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allegory
1.
a. A literary, dramatic, or pictorial device in which characters and events stand for abstract ideas, principles, or forces, so that the literal sense has or suggests a parallel, deeper symbolic sense.
b. A story, picture, or play in which this device is used. John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and Herman Melville's Moby Dick are allegories.
2.A symbolic representation: The blindfolded figure with scales is an allegory of justice.
[Middle English allegorie, from Latin allgoria, from Greek from allgorein, to interpret
allegorically: allos, other; see al-1 in Indo-European Roots + agoreuein, to speak publicly
(from agora, marketplace); see ger- in Indo-European Roots.]
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