fable
Use Fable in a sentence
bəl| to flee; abscond: |
| chat, to converse |
1250–1300; Middle English fable, fabel, fabul < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin fābula a story, tale, equivalent to fā(rī) to speak + -bula suffix of instrument
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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fable (ˈfeɪbəl) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a short moral story, esp one with animals as characters |
| 2. | a false, fictitious, or improbable account; fiction or lie |
| 3. | a story or legend about supernatural or mythical characters or events |
| 4. | legends or myths collectivelyRelated: fabulous |
| 5. | archaic the plot of a play or of an epic or dramatic poem |
| —vb | |
| 6. | to relate or tell (fables) |
| 7. | (intr) to speak untruthfully; tell lies |
| 8. | (tr) to talk about or describe in the manner of a fable: ghosts are fabled to appear at midnight |
| Related: fabulous | |
| [C13: from Latin fābula story, narrative, from fārī to speak, say] | |
| 'fabler | |
| —n | |
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fable
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Fable definition
applied in the New Testament to the traditions and speculations, "cunningly devised fables", of the Jews on religious questions (1 Tim. 1:4; 4:7; 2 Tim. 4:4; Titus 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16). In such passages the word means anything false and unreal. But the word is used as almost equivalent to parable. Thus we have (1) the fable of Jotham, in which the trees are spoken of as choosing a king (Judg. 9:8-15); and (2) that of the cedars of Lebanon and the thistle as Jehoash's answer to Amaziah (2 Kings 14:9).
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fable
narrative form, usually featuring animals that behave and speak as human beings, told in order to highlight human follies and weaknesses. A moral-or lesson for behaviour-is woven into the story and often explicitly formulated at the end. (See also beast fable.)
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