parable

[par-uh-buhl]

See more synonyms for parable on Thesaurus.com

noun

a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson.
a statement or comment that conveys a meaning indirectly by the use of comparison, analogy, or the like.

Origin of parable

1275–1325; Middle English parabil < Late Latin parabola comparison, parable, word < Greek parabolḗ comparison, equivalent to para- para-¹ + bolḗ a throwing

Related formspa·rab·o·list

[puh-rab-uh-list] /pəˈræb ə lɪst/, noun

Synonyms for parable

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1. allegory, homily, apologue.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for parables

tale, fable, teaching, lesson, legend, allegory

Examples from the Web for parables

Contemporary Examples of parables

Parables of complex societal problems being solved in a simple way by a pure-minded child are ubiquitous in North Korean culture.
Such a Sweet Little Dictator: Kim Jong-un and North Korea’s Child Cult
Scott Bixby
April 24, 2014
From here on, he was a philosopher, a sage, and his interviews were stuffed full of dicta, parables and eternal paradoxes.
What It Was Like to Watch the Beatles Become the Beatles—Nik Cohn Remembers
Nik Cohn
February 9, 2014
The imaginative Raami turns within, summoning the parables, poems, dignity, humility, and wisdom of her father.
This Week’s Hot Reads: July 23, 2012, All-Fiction Edition
Mythili Rao
July 23, 2012
The stories, most of them very short, have the blunt, evocative effect of parables or campfire tales.
3 Great Reads for Thanksgiving
Taylor Antrim
November 25, 2009

Historical Examples of parables

In connexion with hair like that one must speak in parables.
Alarms and Discursions
G. K. Chesterton
The most beautiful fictions ever written were the parables of the Savior.
Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII. No. 5. May 1848
Various
What is true of proverbs, is true of all fables, parables, and allegories.
Nature
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Whittier said, "But do they not always have an application, like the parables?"
Whittier-land
Samuel T. Pickard
"The Bible is filled with parables," said Mr. Talmadge, simply.
'Smiles'
Eliot H. Robinson

British Dictionary definitions for parables

parable

noun

a short story that uses familiar events to illustrate a religious or ethical pointRelated adjectives: parabolic, parabolical
any of the stories of this kind told by Jesus Christ

Derived Formsparabolist (pəˈræbəlɪst), noun

Word Origin for parable

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

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 parables

parable

mid-13c., parabol, modern form from early 14c., "saying or story in which something is expressed in terms of something else," from Old French parable "parable, parabolic style in writing" (13c.), from Latin parabola "comparison," from Greek parabole "a comparison, parable," literally "a throwing beside," hence "a juxtaposition," from para- "alongside" (see para- (1)) + bole "a throwing, casting, beam, ray," related to ballein "to throw" (see ballistics).

Replaced Old English bispell. In Vulgar Latin, parabola took on the meaning "word," hence Italian parlare, French parler "to speak" (see parley (n.)).

parables in Culture

parables

In the New Testament, the stories told by Jesus to convey his religious message; they include the parable of the Good Samaritan and that of the Prodigal Son.