parable
- parable
allegory, fable, parable
1. All three words denote a narrative or story that symbolizes other persons and events. Allegory flourished in medieval literature and later (Spenser's Faerie Queene, 1590–6; Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, 1678–84, in which the journey of the hero Christian stands for the life of the human soul; Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, 1681), and allegorical elements are present in much modern writing, e.g. Virginia Woolf's Between the Acts (1941), which by means of a village pageant presents ‘a communal image of rural England, past and present’.
2. A parable is a special kind of allegory, especially in the New Testament, in which a moral point is made from an everyday story. A fable also makes a moral point, but is couched in terms of fictional characters who are often made to do impossible things (e.g. animals speak).
Modern English usage.
2014.
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Look at other dictionaries:
PARABLE — PARABLE, from the Greek παραβολὴ (lit. juxtaposition ), the usual Septuagint rendering of Hebrew mashal ( comparison, saying, and derived meanings ). No distinction is made in biblical usage between parable, allegory, and fable; all are forms of… … Encyclopedia of Judaism
Parable — Par a*ble, n. [F. parabole, L. parabola, fr. Gr. ? a placing beside or together, a comparing, comparison, a parable, fr. ? to throw beside, compare; para beside + ? to throw; cf. Skr. gal to drop. Cf. {Emblem}, {Gland}, {Palaver}, {Parabola},… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
parable — (n.) early 14c., saying or story in which something is expressed in terms of something else, from O.Fr. parable, from L. parabola comparison, from Gk. parabole a comparison, parable, lit. a throwing beside, from para alongside (see PARA (Cf. para … Etymology dictionary
parable — [par′ə bəl] n. [ME < MFr parabole < LL(Ec) parabola, an allegorical relation, parable < L, comparison < Gr parabolē, an analogy (< paraballein, to throw beside: see PARA 1 & BALL2), in N.T. & LXX, parable: transl. of Heb mashal,… … English World dictionary
Parable — Par a*ble, v. t. To represent by parable. [R.] [1913 Webster] Which by the ancient sages was thus parabled. Milton. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Parable — Par a*ble, a. [L. parabilis, fr. parare to provide.] Procurable. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
parable — *allegory, myth, fable … New Dictionary of Synonyms
parable — [n] moral story allegory, fable, legend, lesson, tale, teaching; concept 282 … New thesaurus
parable — ► NOUN ▪ a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. ORIGIN Latin parabola comparison, discourse, allegory , from Greek parabol (see PARABOLA(Cf. ↑parabola)) … English terms dictionary
Parable — For a comparison of parable with other kinds of stories, see Myth, legend, fairy tale, and fable. The Parable of the Good Samaritan by Jan Wijnants (1670) shows the Good Samaritan tending the injured man. A parable is … Wikipedia
parable — [[t]pæ̱rəb(ə)l[/t]] parables N COUNT: oft N of n A parable is a short story, which is told in order to make a moral or religious point, like those in the Bible. ... the parable of the Good Samaritan... The story is a pleasing parable of the… … English dictionary
