an allegory , i. e. a figurative representation of a thought or of an abstract truth , under an image carried through to the end : continuus (usus comparationis) in allegoriam et aenigmata exit, Quint. 8, 6, 14; so id. 8, 6, 52: quae sunt per allegoriam dicta, are spoken allegorically ,Vulg. Gal. 4, 24: allegoriarum explanationes, Arn. 5, p. 186 (in Cic. written in Greek, Or. 27, 94; id.Att. 2, 20).