Parable

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Parable \Par"a*ble\, v. t.
     To represent by parable. [R.]
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Which by the ancient sages was thus parabled. --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Parable \Par"a*ble\, a. [L. parabilis, fr. parare to provide.]
     Procurable. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Parable \Par"a*ble\, n. [F. parabole, L. parabola, fr. Gr. ? a
     placing beside or together, a comparing, comparison, a
     parable, fr. ? to throw beside, compare; para` beside + ? to
     throw; cf. Skr. gal to drop. Cf. {Emblem}, {Gland},
     {Palaver}, {Parabola}, {Parley}, {Parabole}, {Symbol}.]
     A comparison; a similitude; specifically, a short fictitious
     narrative of something which might really occur in life or
     nature, by means of which a moral is drawn; as, the parables
     of Christ. --Chaucer.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Declare unto us the parable of the tares. --Matt. xiii.
                                                    36.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: See {Allegory}, and Note under {Apologue}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  parable
       n 1: a short moral story (often with animal characters) [syn: {fable},
             {allegory}, {apologue}]
       2: (New Testament) any of the stories told by Jesus to convey
          his religious message; "the parable of the prodigal son"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  39 Moby Thesaurus words for "parable":
     Marchen, Western, Western story, Westerner, adventure story,
     allegory, apologue, bedtime story, comparison, detective story,
     fable, fabliau, fairy tale, fantasy, fiction, folk story, folktale,
     gest, ghost story, horse opera, legend, lesson, love story,
     mystery, mystery story, myth, mythology, mythos, nursery tale,
     romance, science fiction, shocker, similitude, space fiction,
     space opera, suspense story, thriller, whodunit, work of fiction
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Parable
     (Gr. parabole), a placing beside; a comparison; equivalent to
     the Heb. mashal, a similitude. In the Old Testament this is used
     to denote (1) a proverb (1 Sam. 10:12; 24:13; 2 Chr. 7:20), (2)
     a prophetic utterance (Num. 23:7; Ezek. 20:49), (3) an enigmatic
     saying (Ps. 78:2; Prov. 1:6). In the New Testament, (1) a
     proverb (Mark 7:17; Luke 4:23), (2) a typical emblem (Heb. 9:9;
     11:19), (3) a similitude or allegory (Matt. 15:15; 24:32; Mark
     3:23; Luke 5:36; 14:7); (4) ordinarily, in a more restricted
     sense, a comparison of earthly with heavenly things, "an earthly
     story with a heavenly meaning," as in the parables of our Lord.
     
       Instruction by parables has been in use from the earliest
     times. A large portion of our Lord's public teaching consisted
     of parables. He himself explains his reasons for this in his
     answer to the inquiry of the disciples, "Why speakest thou to
     them in parables?" (Matt. 13:13-15; Mark 4:11, 12; Luke 8:9,
     10). He followed in so doing the rule of the divine procedures,
     as recorded in Matt. 13:13.
     
       The parables uttered by our Lord are all recorded in the
     synoptical (i.e., the first three) Gospels. The fourth Gospel
     contains no parable properly so called, although the
     illustration of the good shepherd (John 10:1-16) has all the
     essential features of a parable. (See List of Parables in
     Appendix.)