allegorismn.
/ˈalᵻɡ(ə)rɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /ˈæləˌɡɔrɪz(ə)m/ 1. Allegorical interpretation; spec. the method of interpreting scripture allegorically rather than literally. Cf. allegorist n. 1. Also: an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > comparison > comparison by allegory > [noun] > result of
allegorism1729
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > figure of speech > figures of meaning > [noun] > allegory > allegorical representation or interpretation
allegorizing1579
allegorism1729
allegorization1778
1729 T. Woolston Def. Disc. Miracles Saviour 47 Infidelity and Allegorism are incompatible in the same Person.
1839 Brit. Mag. & Monthly Reg. 16 134 The taste of Alan..leans more to mystical allegorism than to scholasticism.
1889 Sat. Rev. 18 May 613/1 [His views] rest upon what the early Fathers called Allegorism—that is, on the spiritual, not the literal, interpretation of our Lord's words. Nor is Allegorism ‘Gnostic’.
1901 T. Davidson Hist. Educ. ii. i. i. 119 They had to make use of the most shameless allegorisms, capable of making anything mean anything.
1953 W. R. Trask tr. E. R. Curtius European Lit. & Lat. Middle Ages xi. 205 Allegory becomes the basis of all textual interpretation whatsoever.
2001 Church Times 21 Sept. 14/1 A generation ago, the historical–critical method dominated the field [sc. New Testament studies]: allegorism and fundamentalism were the hardly respectable alternatives.
2. The use of allegory in a story, picture, etc.
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1747 W. Warburton Wks. Shakespear IV. 269 (note) For the dwelling overlong upon one occasions the discourse to degenerate into a dull kind of allegorism.
1813–15 S. T. Coleridge Notebks. (1973) III. 4183 No proper allegorism in Scripture.
1847 Ld. Lindsay Sketches Hist. Christian Art III. v. 80 As paintings, they are very feeble and poor, but the allegorism is ingenious.
1913 W. K. Fleming Mysticism in Christianity ii. 39 Allegorism..in the hands of a gifted seer, like John Bunyan, has conveyed imperishable truths.
1961 D. G. Hoffman Form & Fable in Amer. Fiction ix. 178 Hester's elf-child..is indeed a remarkable infant, distinguished..for the allegorism with which Hawthorne manipulates her strange behavior.
2001 in K. Borris & G. Klawitter Affectionate Shepherd 361 Kenneth Borris..is also writing a book on Spenser's pastoral allegorism.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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