allegory

English

WOTD – 27 June 2025

Etymology

The noun is derived from Late Middle English allegorie (“symbolic interpretation; symbolism; (Christianity) one of the four methods of interpreting the Bible”)[1] + English -y (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state). Allegorie is borrowed from Anglo-Norman allegorie and Middle French allegorie (“narrative with a hidden meaning; such a meaning or its interpretation”) (modern French allégorie), and directly from their etymon Latin allēgoria (“figurative or metaphorical language, allegory; parable”) (whence Late Latin allēgoria (“allegorical interpretation of the Bible”)), from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓λληγορῐ́ᾱ (ăllēgorĭ́ā, “figurative or metaphorical language”), probably from ἀλληγορος (allēgoros, “allegorical”) (though only attested in Byzantine Greek) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Ἀλληγορος (Allēgoros) is derived from ᾰ̓́λλος (ắllos, “another; different”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“beyond; other”)) + ἠγόρ- (ēgór-, the imperfect stem of ἀγορεύω (agoreúō, “to speak in the assembly; to say, speak”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming certain inflections of adjectives);[2] and ἀγορεύω (agoreúō) from ᾰ̓γορᾱ́ (ăgorā́, “assembly; assembly place; market place; speech”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ger- (“flock, herd; to gather”)) + -εύω (-eúō, suffix forming verbs).

The verb is derived from the noun.[3]

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈælɪɡəɹi/, /ˈælɪɡɹi/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈæləˌɡɔɹi/
  • Audio (General American):(file)
    (file)
  • Hyphenation: al‧le‧gory

Noun

allegory (countable and uncountable, plural allegories)

  1. (uncountable, rhetoric) The use of symbols which may be interpreted to reveal a hidden, broader message, usually a moral or political one, about real-world issues and occurrences; also, the interpretation of such symbols.
  2. (countable, by extension)
    2. A picture, story, or other form of communication in which one or more characters, events, or places are used to reveal a hidden, broader message about real-world issues and occurrences.
      • 1533 (date written), Thomas More, “A Letter of Sir Thomas More Knight Impugning the Erroniouse Wryting of John Frith agaynst the Blessed Sacrament of the Aulter”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London: […] Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published 30 April 1557, →OCLC, page 835, column 1:
        [T]houghe ſome woordes ſpoken by the mouthe of Chriſt written in ſcripture, be to be vnderſtanden only by way of a ſimilitude or an allegory: it foloweth not therupõ [thereupon] that of neceſſitye euerye like woorde of Chriſt in other places was none other but an allegory.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Galatians 4:22–24 and 26, signature [S4], verso, column 2:
        […] Abraham had two ſonnes, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman, was borne after the fleſh: but hee of the freewoman, was by promiſe. Which things are an Allegorie; for theſe are the two Couenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. […] But Jeruſalem which is aboue is free, which is the mother of vs all.
      • 1660, H[enry] More, chapter XVII, in An Explanation of the Grand Mystery of Godliness; […], London: […] J[ames] Flesher, for W[illiam] Morden […], →OCLC, book I, page 203:
        [T]hey held the Creed in the plain literal ſenſe thereof vvithout any ſhuffling Allegories, […]
      • 1678, John Bunyan, “The Author’s Apology for His Book”, in The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC:
        And thus it vvas: I vvriting of the VVay / And Race of Saints, in this our Goſpel-Day, / Fell ſuddenly into an Allegory / About their Journey, and the vvay to Glory, / In more than tvventy things, vvhich I ſet dovvn; […]
      • 1751 December 4 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson, “No. 176. Saturday, November 23. 1751.”, in The Rambler, volume VII, Edinburgh: […] Sands, Murray, and Cochran; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, […], published 1752, →OCLC, page 130:
        They diſcover in every paſſage ſome ſecret meaning, ſome remote alluſion, ſome artful allegory, or ſome occult imitation, vvhich no other reader every ſuspected; […]
      • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter III, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, pages 30–31:
        Ah! the Roman emperor, who desired that his slavery might be alleviated by his fetters being made of gold, was a very rational person. I have always considered it an allegory, showing the necessity of marrying for money.
      • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Affidavit”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 227:
        So ignorant are most landsmen of some of the plainest and most palpable wonders of the world, that without some hints touching the plain facts, historical and otherwise, of the fishery, they might scout at Moby Dick as a monstrous fable, or still worse and more detestable, a hideous and intolerable allegory.
    3. A character or thing which symbolically represents someone or something else; an emblem, a symbol.
      • 1606 (date written), Francis Bacon, “[Severall Discourses, Written, in the Dayes of King James, […].] Certain Considerations, Touching the Plantation in Ireland. Presented to His Maiesty, 1606.”, in William Rawley, editor, Resuscitatio, or, Bringing into Publick Light Severall Pieces, of the Works, Civil, Historical, Philosophical, & Theological, hitherto Sleeping; of the Right Honourable Francis Bacon Baron of Verulam, Viscount Saint Alban. […], London: S[arah] Griffin, for William Lee, […], published 1657, →OCLC, page 257:
        [T]he Harp of Ireland, puts me in mind, of that Glorious Embleme, or Allegory, vvherein the vviſdome of Antiquity, did figure, and ſhadovv out, vvorks of this Nature.
      • 1769, [Edmund Burke], Observations on a Late State of the Nation, London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC, page 61:
        Among all the great men of antiquity, Procruſtes ſhall never be my hero of legiſlation; vvith his iron bed, the allegory of his government, and the type of ſome modern policy, by vvhich the long limb vvas to be cut ſhort, and the ſhort tortured into length. Such vvas this ſtate bed of uniformity!
      • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 11:
        There were casts of the Gladiator—he whose native courage struggled against the doom which was yet welcome—a mournful allegory of honour.
    4. (mathematics, category theory) A category that retains some of the structure of the category of binary relations between sets, representing a high-level generalization of that category.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

allegory (third-person singular simple present allegories, present participle allegorying, simple past and past participle allegoried)

  1. (archaic) Synonym of allegorize.
    1. (transitive) To interpret (a picture, story, or other form of communication) to reveal a hidden, broader message about real-world issues and occurrences.
    2. (transitive) To create an allegory (noun sense 2.1) from (a character, an event or situation, etc.); also, to use one or more symbols to depict (a hidden, broader message about real-world issues and occurrences).
    3. (transitive, chiefly religion) Followed by away: to treat (something) as allegorical or symbolic rather than as truth.
    4. (intransitive) To interpret an allegory.
    5. (intransitive) To create or use allegory.

Translations

References

  1. ^ “allegorīe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ Compare “allegory, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “allegory, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “allegory, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2024.

Further reading

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