allegory

n. representation of abstract or moral concepts in art or literature by means of concrete things or events; symbolic narrative, fable, parable, metaphor, analogy

An allegory (from Greek αλλος, , "other", and αγορευειν, agoreuein, "to speak in public") is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than the literal. Allegory is generally treated as a figure of rhetoric, but an allegory does not have to be expressed in language: it may be addressed to the eye, and is often found in realistic painting, sculpture or some other form of mimetic, or representative art. The etymological meaning of the word is broader than the common use of the word. Though it is similar to other rhetorical comparisons, an allegory is sustained longer and more fully in its details than a metaphor, and appeals to imagination, while an analogy appeals to reason or logic. The fable or parable is a short allegory with one definite moral.
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Noun
1. a short moral story (often with animal characters)
(synonym) fable, parable, apologue
(hypernym) story
(hyponym) Aesop's fables
(derivation) allegorize, allegorise
2. a visible symbol representing an abstract idea
(synonym) emblem
(hypernym) symbol, symbolization, symbolisation, symbolic representation
(hyponym) scarlet letter
(derivation) allegorize, allegorise
3. an expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances; an extended metaphor
(hypernym) expressive style, style
(derivation) allegorize, allegorise

(n.)
Anything which represents by suggestive resemblance; an emblem.
  

(n.)
A figure representation which has a meaning beyond notion directly conveyed by the object painted or sculptured.
  

(n.)
A figurative sentence or discourse, in which the principal subject is described by another subject resembling it in its properties and circumstances. The real subject is thus kept out of view, and we are left to collect the intentions of the writer or speaker by the resemblance of the secondary to the primary subject.
  

decorative presentation of a literal content suggesting a deep sense

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