Etymograph

English

allegorize

Allegorize comes from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓λληγορῐ́ᾱ ‘veiled language, allegory’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̓λληγορῐ́ᾱăllēgorĭ́ā‘veiled language, allegory’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEallēgorizāre
  3. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400allegorizer
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500allegoriese
  5. Englishtodayallegorize

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEᾰ̓λληγορῐ́ᾱăllēgorĭ́ā‘veiled language, allegory’
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEallēgorizāre
  3. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400allegorizer
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500allegoriese
  5. Englishtodayallegorize

Equivalent to allegory + -ize

Middle English allegorie ‘symbolic interpretation’

English allegory

The story

From Late Middle English allegoriese, allegorisen (‘to interpret (something) in a spiritual sense’), from Anglo-Norman allegorizer and Middle French allegoriser, alegoriser (‘to express or interpret allegorically’) (modern French allégoriser), and from their etymon Late Latin allēgorizāre, the present active infinitive of allēgorizō (‘to express or interpret allegorically’), from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓λληγορῐ́ᾱ (ăllēgorĭ́ā, “veiled language, allegory”) + Late Latin -izō (suffix forming verbs expressing resemblance or similarity). Ἀ̆λληγορῐ́ᾱ (Ăllēgorĭ́ā) is probably derived from ἀλληγορος (allēgoros, “allegorical”) (though only attested in Byzantine Greek) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns); and ἀλληγορος (allēgoros) from ᾰ̓́λλος (ắllos, “another; different”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (‘beyond; other’)) + ἠγόρ- (ēgór-, the imperfect stem of ἀγορεύω (agoreúō, “to speak in the assembly; to say, speak”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming certain inflections of adjectives).

Today it means

verb To interpret (a picture, story, or other form of communication) to reveal a hidden, broader message about real-world issues and occurrences.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek ᾰ̓λληγορῐ́ᾱ / allegorize