parable

par·a·ble | \ ˈper-ə-bəl

, ˈpa-rə- \

Definition of parable

: a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle the Biblical parable of the Good Samaritan also : something (such as a news story or a series of real events) likened to a parable in providing an instructive example or lesson In some ways, his life is a parable of the corrupting effect of great wealth, for he always assumed that everyone was after his money and out to cheat him. — Gavin Stamp By the summer of 2014, 380 House members and 74 senators had signed on as sponsors …. The ABLE Act had become a force. Yet in a parable of how Washington works, the bill still had a long way to go. — Gail Russell Chaddock

Synonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about parable

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Did You Know?

Parable comes to us via Anglo-French from the Late Latin word parabola, which in turn comes from Greek parabolē, meaning "comparison." The word parabola may look familiar if you remember your geometry. The mathematical "parabola" refers to a kind of comparison between a fixed point and a straight line, resulting in a parabolic curve; it came to English from New Latin (Latin as used since the end of the medieval period, especially in scientific description and classification). "Parable," however, descends from Late Latin (the Latin language used by writers in the 3rd to 6th centuries). The Late Latin term parabola referred to verbal comparisons: it essentially meant "allegory" or "speech." Other English descendants of Late Latin parabola are "parole" and "palaver."

Examples of parable in a Sentence

He told the children a parable about the importance of forgiveness. the parable of the Good Samaritan

Recent Examples on the Web To American policymakers, Iran became a parable about the political perils in the fall of a friendly strongman. — David D. Kirkpatrick, New York Times, "How Chase Bank Chairman Helped the Deposed Shah of Iran Enter the U.S.," 29 Dec. 2019 Parasite Speaking of shifting loyalties, no one navigated that line better than Bong Joon Ho with his parable about poor versus rich. — Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, "Heat Vision's Top 10 Movies of 2019," 31 Dec. 2019 Well, there was an article out today about journalists in Pakistan starting to speak in parable in the newspapers to avoid censors from the military. — Lane Florsheim, WSJ, "Idra Novey Wrote a #MeToo Novel Before the #MeToo Movement," 5 Nov. 2018 Queen & Slim will shade complexity into its political parable. — Darren Franich, EW.com, "Queen & Slim is an old-fashioned road picture set in a brutally modern America: Review," 25 Nov. 2019 Starring Judy Garland as Esther amid an ensemble cast as the rest of the Smith family and their various beaus, the movie was a perfect wartime parable for the struggle to keep the family unit together in difficult times. — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, "13 classic holiday films to watch with their modern Christmas counterparts," 6 Dec. 2019 As a parable of the power of sports, the story is irresistible. — Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, "The N.B.A. and China and the Myths of Sports Diplomacy," 22 Oct. 2019 In March this newspaper described Mr Netanyahu’s tenure as a parable of modern populism. — The Economist, "The reign of Bibi Netanyahu is ending," 19 Sep. 2019 Like the parable of the blind men and the elephant, Benji’s is a different culinary beast. — Anchorage Daily News, "A patisserie, boba parlor, sandwich shop and chowder house under one roof," 23 Oct. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'parable.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.