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apologue

[ap-uh-lawg, -log]
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noun
  1. a didactic narrative; a moral fable.
  2. an allegory.
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Origin of apologue

1545–55; (< Middle French) < Latin apologus < Greek apólogos fable. See apo-, -logue
Related formsap·o·log·al, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

parable, allegory, story, fable

Examples from the Web for apologue

Historical Examples

  • And here, Socrates, I will leave the apologue and resume the argument.

    Protagoras

    Plato

  • I had no answer for the apologue—not even for the self-condemnatory tone in which he told it.

    Aladdin &amp; Co.

    Herbert Quick

  • The anecdote was of the character of an apologue, and pertained to game.

  • This apologue pleased the Cardinal, though, in fact, it was very superficial.

  • Length is not an essential matter in the definition of an apologue.

British Dictionary definitions for apologue

apologue

noun
  1. an allegory or moral fable
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Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for apologue

n.

"moral fable," 1550s, from French apologue, from Latin apologus, from Greek apologos, from apo- "off, away from" (see apo-) + logos "speech" (see lecture (n.)). Literally, "(that which comes) from a speech."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper