ETYM Latin apologia, Greek; apo from + logos speech: cf. French apologie. Related to Apologetic.
1. A formal written defense of something one believes in strongly; SYN. apologia.
2. A poor example.
3. An expression of regret at having caused trouble for someone.

A poem with epic conventions in which animals speak and act like human beings.

A usually didactic prose or verse fable in which animals speak and act like human beings.

ETYM French, from Latin fabula, from fari to speak, say. Related to Ban, Fabulous, Fame.
A short moral story (often with animal characters); SYN. parable, allegory, apologue.
Story, in either verse or prose, in which animals or inanimate objects are given the mentality and speech of human beings to point out a moral. Fables are common in folklore and children’s literature, and range from the short fables of the ancient Greek writer Aesop to the modern novel Animal Farm by George Orwell.
Fabulists include the Roman Phaedrus, French poet La Fontaine and, in English, Geoffrey Chaucer and Jonathan Swift.