The English term “apologue” is adopted from the French word spelt the same way and adapted from the Latin “apologus”, meaning story or fable. It is used in English literary criticism to describe an allegorical story, intended to convey a useful, moral lesson, in which animals or inanimate things take part and speak to one another in human language. As a term of criticism, “apologue” has the same meaning as a “fable”. For a fuller definition and history, see the separate entry under “fable”.