apologue

[ ap-uh-lawg, -log ]
See synonyms for apologue on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a didactic narrative; a moral fable.

  2. an allegory.

Origin of apologue

1
1545–55; (<Middle French ) <Latin apologus<Greek apólogos fable. See apo-, -logue

Other words from apologue

  • ap·o·log·al, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use apologue in a sentence

  • The writer of these apologues hopes that the Rev. Mr. Gowles will not be regarded as his idea of a typical missionary.

    In the Wrong Paradise | Andrew Lang
  • At the same time, then, they will study these fables as apologues, making in all cases their own moral and application.

    Literature in the Elementary School | Porter Lander MacClintock
  • The use of fables or apologues has been approved in every age from ancient India to modern Europe.

  • The Monk's Tale is a set of dry, moral apologues in the manner of his contemporary, the "moral Gower."

    From Chaucer to Tennyson | Henry A. Beers
  • The old Suffet mingled his speech in this way with proverbs and apologues, nodding his head the while to solicit some approval.

    Salammbo | Gustave Flaubert

British Dictionary definitions for apologue

apologue

/ (ˈæpəˌlɒɡ) /


noun
  1. an allegory or moral fable

Origin of apologue

1
C17: from Latin, from Greek apologos

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012