'Parable' is a story 'thrown alongside' a truth — from Greek 'para-' (beside) + 'ballein' (to throw).
A simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson.
From Old French parabole, from Latin parabola, from Greek parabolḗ (comparison, analogy, illustration, parable), a compound of para- (beside, alongside) + bolḗ (a throw, a cast), from ballein (to throw, to cast). The PIE root for ballein is *gʷelh₁- (to throw). A parabolḗ is literally a placing alongside — a story placed next to a moral truth to