parable

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parable a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels. Recorded from Middle English, the word comes via Old French from an ecclesiastical Latin sense ‘discourse, allegory’ of Latin parabola ‘comparison’, from Greek parabolē ‘placing side by side, application’. Stories told by Jesus are often referred to by specific titles referring to their subjects, such as the parable of the sower.

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