Middle English Dictionary Entry
anagogīe n.
Entry Info
| Forms | anagogīe n. |
| Etymology | ML, from Gr. anagōgē. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
The highest of the four levels of Biblical exegesis; highest or mystical interpretation or meaning.
Associated quotations
- ?a1425(a1415) Wycl.Lantern (Hrl 2324)24/24 : Bi þise foure we ben tauȝt: in stori what is don, in allegori what we schal bileue, in moral what we shall do, in anagogy what we schal hope.
- (a1460) Bokenham Sts. (Adv Abbotsford B3)13.135 (v.1:p.142) : The secunde cause why the circumcision is doon on the eight day, aftir the hevenly intellect which is clepid anagogie, is that .. in the octaue of the final resurreccion we shul be circumcided and purged from al peyne and myserie.
- c1475(c1445) Pecock Donet (Bod 916)107/7,12 : If þere be no strenger argument aȝens me þan which mai be take bi such a moral vndirstonding, or an allegorie, or an anagogie of holi scripture, my seiyng wole stonde wel ynouȝ..No strenger groundis forto holde..þingis to be trewe þan ben mystyk conceitis takun bi holy scripture, as ben tropologies, allegories and anagogies.