parable

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A short story that teaches a moral or religious lesson.

   The teacher explained kindness through a simple parable about a shepherd.

Simplified etymology

Parable entered Middle English from an ecclesiastical Latin sense of parabola, “discourse” or “allegory,” originally “comparison” or “speech.” Latin borrowed the word from Greek parabolē, literally a “placing side by side,” formed from para-, “beside,” and bolē, “a throw.”

From Middle English parable, from Old French parable, parabole, from Late Latin parabola, from Ancient Greek παραβολή (parabolḗ, “comparison”). Doublet of parabola, parole, and palaver.

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External links

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