Etymology Dictionary

ALLEGORY,  a kind of parable.  (F.,—Gk.)   The pl. allegories occurs in Tyndal's Prol. to Leviticus, and Sir T. More's Works, p. 1041a.—F. allegorie, an allegory; Cot.—Lat. allegoria, borrowed from Greek, in the Vulgate version of Galat. iv. 24.—Gk. ἀλληγορία, a description of one thing under the image of another.—Gk. ἀλληγορεῖν, to speak so as to imply something else.—Gk. ἄλλο-, stem of ἄλλος, another; and ἀγορεύειν, to speak, a verb formed from ἀγορά, a place of assembly, which again is from ἀγείρειν, to assemble.  The prefix ἀ- appears to answer to Skt. sa, together, and -γείριν implies a root GAR; see Fick, i. 73.   Der. allegor-ic, allegor-ic-al, allegor-ic-al-ly, allegor-ise, allegor-ist.