allegory
/ˈæləˌɡɔːɹi/A-luh-gaw-ree
/ˈæləˌɡɔɹi/A-luh-gaw-ree
Meaningspeaking otherwise
Common meaning: a story with a hidden meaning
- allother, differentLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 66 · scan
- egora place of assembly, marketLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. · scan
- ynoun ending: study, state or act
‘other, different’ + ‘a place of assembly, market’ → allegory
Worn-down word: allegory comes from Greek allegoria, allos (other) + agoreuein (speak in public). The al- is not the Latin prefix ad-. Skeat scan
Journey through time
- all — Greek ἄλλος “other, different” (path traced)
- egor — Greek ἀγορά “a place of assembly, market” (path traced)
Parts join in French.
- Greekἄλλος + ἀγορά‘other, different + a place of assembly, market’
- Englishallegory‘a story with a hidden meaning’ · today
all also in: parallel
egor also in: agoraphobia
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek ἄλλος ‘other, different’ + Greek ἀγορά ‘a place of assembly, market’.
Roots
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app