allegory means the use of symbols which may be interpreted to reveal a hidden, broader message, usually a moral or political one, about real-world issues and occurrences; also, the interpretation of such symbols. It carries an Arena rating of 1752, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, allegory ranks #824 of 17,123 for Most Malleable Words, #1,576 of 17,116 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,921 of 17,093 for Most Storied Words, #3,346 of 17,130 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
allegory is pronounced /ˈælɪɡəɹi/.
Why “allegory” is a great word
A narrative in which characters, events, and settings function as a continuous, coherent system of symbols to represent abstract ideas, typically to convey a moral or political message. From Late Middle English allegorie, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Middle French allegorie, from Latin allēgoria, from Ancient Greek ἀλληγορία (allēgoría, 'figurative or metaphorical language'), from ἀλληγορος (allēgoros, 'speaking figuratively'), from ἄλλος (allos, 'other') + ἀγορεύειν (agoreuein, 'to speak publicly, declare'). Unlike a symbol—a single, potent image—or a parable—a simple illustrative tale—an allegory is an architecture of sustained disguise. It is a lion on a throne embodying a nation’s pride and tyranny, a pilgrim’s path charting the soul’s every peril, or an animal farm where pigs become politburos and horses the betrayed proletariat—a world built not to be lived in, but to be decoded, the reader always knowing that the surface is merely a door held politely ajar.
Etymology
The noun is derived from Late Middle English allegorie (“symbolic interpretation; symbolism; (Christianity) one of the four methods of interpreting the Bible”) + English -y (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state). Allegorie is borrowed from Anglo-Norman allegorie and Middle French allegorie (“narrative with a hidden meaning; such a meaning or its interpretation”) (modern French allégorie), and directly from their etymon Latin allēgoria (“figurative or metaphorical language, allegory; parable”) (whence Late Latin allēgoria (“allegorical interpretation of the Bible”)), from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓λληγορῐ́ᾱ (ăllēgorĭ́ā, “figurative or metaphorical language”), probably from ἀλληγορος (allēgoros, “allegorical”) (though only attested in Byzantine Greek) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suf
noun
- The use of symbols which may be interpreted to reveal a hidden, broader message, usually a moral or political one, about real-world issues and occurrences; also, the interpretation of such symbols.
- A picture, story, or other form of communication in which one or more characters, events, or places are used to reveal a hidden, broader message about real-world issues and occurrences.
- A character or thing which symbolically represents someone or something else; an emblem, a symbol.
- A category that retains some of the structure of the category of binary relations between sets, representing a high-level generalization of that category.
verb
- Synonym of allegorize.; To interpret (a picture, story, or other form of communication) to reveal a hidden, broader message about real-world issues and occurrences.
- Synonym of allegorize.; To create an allegory (noun sense 2.1) from (a character, an event or situation, etc.); also, to use one or more symbols to depict (a hidden, broader message about real-world issues and occurrences).
- Synonym of allegorize.; Followed by away: to treat (something) as allegorical or symbolic rather than as truth.
- Synonym of allegorize.; To interpret an allegory.
- Synonym of allegorize.; To create or use allegory.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- allegorize 77% match — To interpret (a picture, story, or other form of communication) to reveal a hidden, broader message about real-world issues and occurrences. vs allegory →
- allegorism 67% match — The use of allegory. vs allegory →
- allegoristic 67% match — allegorical vs allegory →
- allegorics 65% match — allegorical techniques vs allegory →
- allegorization 65% match — The act of making into allegory, or of understanding in an allegorical sense. vs allegory →
- allegoresis 63% match — The interpretive analysis of art, text, spoken word, etc., to identify allegory. vs allegory →
- allegorical 63% match — Of, relating to, or containing allegory. vs allegory →
- allegorizing 63% match — The act or process of making an allegory. vs allegory →