allegory English · revision 797

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈælɪɡəɹi/, /ˈælɪɡɹi/ ''(UK)''; /ˈæləˌɡɔɹi/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|allegorie]],^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|la|allēgoria]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) partly through [[fro|allegorie]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) [[der|grc|ἀλληγορία|tr=allēgoría|t=figurative language, a speaking otherwise]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) from ''allēgoreîn'' “to speak figuratively”, [[af|grc|ἄλλος|ἀγορεύω|tr1=állos|tr2=agoreúō|t1=other, different|t2=to speak in the assembly]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) from ''agorá'' “assembly, public place” (see [[agora]]).^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Description of one subject under the guise of another with a suggestive resemblance (1382 in the OED; about 1384 in Barnhart; late 14th century in Etymonline).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ An allegory is literally a “speaking about something else”.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) By 1534 the word also meant an individual figurative narrative or discourse,^(OED 1989) and later an allegorical picture or emblem (before 1639).^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) The Elizabethan critic George Puttenham called allegory “a long and perpetuall Metaphore” (1589).^(Etymonline) ''Allegoric'' dates from about 1395 and ''allegorical'' from 1528.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1382 – figurative description of one thing under another.^(OED 1989)

+ * about 1395 – ''allegoric''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1534 – an allegorical narrative.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1554 – verb, to allegorize.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1639 – an emblem.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A literary, dramatic or pictorial device in which characters and events stand for abstract ideas or principles, so that the literal sense suggests a deeper, [[symbolic]] one.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A story, picture or play using this device, such as ''[[Pilgrim's Progress]]''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # A symbolic representation; an [[emblem]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[allegorist]]

+ * [[allegoristic]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[agora]]

+ * [[allegorical]]

+ * [[allegorize]]

+ * [[allegorise]]

+ * [[category]]

+ * [[metaphor]]

+ * [[parable]]

+ * [[alien]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}