| / English Dictionary |
ALLEGORY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
An expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances; an extended metaphor
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("allegory" is a kind of...):
expressive style; style (a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period)
Derivation:
allegoric; allegorical (used in or characteristic of or containing allegory)
allegorise (make into an allegory)
allegorise (interpret as an allegory)
allegorize (make into an allegory)
allegorize (interpret as an allegory)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A short moral story (often with animal characters)
Synonyms:
allegory; apologue; fable; parable
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("allegory" is a kind of...):
story (a piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "allegory"):
Aesop's fables (a collection of fables believed to have been written by the Greek storyteller Aesop)
Instance hyponyms:
Pilgrim's Progress (an allegory written by John Bunyan in 1678)
Derivation:
allegorical (used in or characteristic of or containing allegory)
allegorise (make into an allegory)
allegorise (interpret as an allegory)
allegorize (make into an allegory)
allegorize (interpret as an allegory)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A visible symbol representing an abstract idea
Synonyms:
allegory; emblem
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("allegory" is a kind of...):
symbol; symbolic representation; symbolisation; symbolization (something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "allegory"):
Hakenkreuz; swastika (the official emblem of the Nazi Party and the Third Reich; a cross with the arms bent at right angles in a clockwise direction)
spread eagle (an emblem (an eagle with wings and legs spread) on the obverse of the Great Seal of the United States)
medallion (an emblem indicating that a taxicab is registered)
maple-leaf (the emblem of Canada)
Agnus Dei; Paschal Lamb (figure of a lamb; emblematic of Christ)
badge (an emblem (a small piece of plastic or cloth or metal) that signifies your status (rank or membership or affiliation etc.))
Magen David; Mogen David; Shield of David; Solomon's seal; Star of David (a six-pointed star formed from two equilateral triangles; an emblem symbolizing Judaism)
red flag (the emblem of socialist revolution)
hammer and sickle (the emblem on the flag of the Soviet Union)
ensign; national flag (an emblem flown as a symbol of nationality)
fasces (bundle of rods containing an axe with the blade protruding; in ancient Rome it was a symbol of a magistrate's power; in modern Italy it is a symbol of fascism)
elephant (the symbol of the Republican Party; introduced in cartoons by Thomas Nast in 1874)
eagle (an emblem representing power)
dove (an emblem of peace)
donkey (the symbol of the Democratic Party; introduced in cartoons by Thomas Nast in 1874)
cupid (a symbol for love in the form of a cherubic naked boy with wings and a bow and arrow)
scarlet letter (the letter A in red; Puritans required adulterers to wear it)
Derivation:
allegorical (used in or characteristic of or containing allegory)
allegorise (make into an allegory)
allegorise (interpret as an allegory)
allegorize (make into an allegory)
allegorize (interpret as an allegory)
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