| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| allegory |
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| SYLLABICATION: | al·le·go·ry |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   l  -gôr  , -g r |
| NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. al·le·go·ries
1a. The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form. b. A story, picture, or play employing such representation. John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and Herman Melville's Moby Dick are allegories. 2. A symbolic representation: The blindfolded figure with scales is an allegory of justice. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English allegorie, from Latin allgoria, from Greek, from allgorein, to interpret allegorically : allos, other; see al-1 in Appendix I + agoreuein, to speak publicly (from agora, marketplace; see ger- in Appendix I). | | OTHER FORMS: | alle·gorist —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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