Definition of "exemplum" [exemplum]

• An example. (noun)
• A brief story used to make a point in an argument or to illustrate a moral truth. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Perhaps better suited is the term exemplum, a kind of allegorical story where a particular instance serves to illustrate a general religious theme in a sermon."
• "While no one has done a statistical survey, but basing our examination on what I call exemplum analysis, which is in itself telling -- a way of ascertaining truthful aspects of movements in our systems, etc. -- we know that a great majority of the entire population of the country [of] Iran is vehemently against the Islamic Republic."
• "While no one has done a statistical survey, but basing our examination on what I call exemplum analysis, which is in itself telling - a way of ascertaining truthful aspects of movements in our systems, etc. - we know that a great majority of the entire population of the country [of] Iran is vehemently against the Islamic Republic."