parable

[par-uh-buhl]

noun

1. a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson.

   Synonyms: apologue, homily, allegory

2. a statement or comment that conveys a meaning indirectly by the use of comparison, analogy, or the like.

parable

/ ˈpærəbəl, pəˈræbəlɪst /

noun

1. a short story that uses familiar events to illustrate a religious or ethical point

2. any of the stories of this kind told by Jesus Christ

Other Word Forms

• parabolist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of parable¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English parabil, from Late Latin parabola “allegory, comparison, word,” from Greek parabolḗ “comparison,” from para- para- ¹ + bolḗ “a throw”

Word History and Origins

Origin of parable¹

C14: from Old French parabole, from Latin parabola comparison, from Greek parabolē analogy, from paraballein to throw alongside, from _para- ¹ + ballein to throw

Example Sentences

The technique of “Train Dreams”—the stylized juxtaposition of images and narration, the kaleidoscopic jumble of anxious memories and pastoral portraits—is not the stuff of an Old West parable.

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After 30-plus years, Jim Henson’s creation returns to series TV — as a lavishly produced climate change parable that pays respect to the original.

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In these and other parables, Jesus points us to the deficiency of our anthropocentric conception of fairness, directing our attention to something deeper about God’s love.

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Much of “Flour” is concerned with the woman’s conversation with her driver about a parable from the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas that he is translating from Coptic—a tale, he says, about emptiness and unknowing.

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It stands as a parable of modernism and its reception.

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Related Words

• fable 
• tale