Ăl'le-go-ry1, n.
(50), n. [Lat. allegoria, Gr. ἀλληγορία, description of one thing under the image of another; ἄλλος, other, and ἀγορεύειν, to speak in the assembly, harangue, from ἀγορά, assembly; Fr. allégorie, Pr. allegoria.] A figurative sentence or discourse, in which the principal subject is described by another subject resembling it in its properties and circumstances. The principal subject is thus kept out of view, and we are left to collect the intentions of the writer or speaker by the resemblance of the secondary to the primary subject.
☞ The distinction in Scripture between a parable and an allegory is said to be, that a parable is a supposed history, and an allegory a figurative application of real facts. An allegory is called a continued metaphor. Bunyan's “Pilgrim's Progress” and Spenser's “Faery Queen” are celebrated examples of the allegory.