allegory

From Middle English allegorie, from Old French allegorie, from Latin allegoria, from Ancient Greek ἀλληγορία (allēgoría), from ἄλλος (állos, “other”) + ἀγορεύω (agoreúō, “I speak”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈæl.ɘˌɡoʊɹ.i/, /ˈæl.ɘˌɡɔɹ.i/

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allegory (countable and uncountable, plural allegories)

1. The representation of abstract principles by characters or figures.
2. A picture, book, or other form of communication using such representation.
3. A symbolic representation which can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, usually a moral or political one.
4. (mathematics, category theory) A category that retains some of the structure of the category of binary relations between sets, representing a high-level generalisation of that category.

• allegoric
• allegorical
• allegorically
• allegorist
• allegorize

• agora
• agoraphobia
• category

• metaphor