PROVERB

proverb, adage, saw, byword

(noun) a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

proverb (plural proverbs)

A phrase expressing a basic truth which may be applied to common situations.

A striking or paradoxical assertion; an obscure saying; an enigma; a parable.

A familiar illustration; a subject of contemptuous reference.

A drama exemplifying a proverb.

Synonyms

• (phrase expressing a basic truth): adage, apothegm, byword, maxim, paroemia, saw, saying, sententia

• See also saying

Verb

proverb (third-person singular simple present proverbs, present participle proverbing, simple past and past participle proverbed)

To write or utter proverbs.

To name in, or as, a proverb.

To provide with a proverb.

Source: Wiktionary


Prov"erb, n. Etym: [OE. proverbe, F. proverbe, from L. proverbium; pro before, for + verbum a word. See Verb.]

1. An old and common saying; a phrase which is often repeated; especially, a sentence which briefly and forcibly expresses some practical truth, or the result of experience and observation; a maxim; a saw; an adage. Chaucer. Bacon.

2. A striking or paradoxical assertion; an obscure saying; an enigma; a parable. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. John xvi. 29.

3. A familiar illustration; a subject of contemptuous reference. Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by word, among all nations. Deut. xxviii. 37.

4. A drama exemplifying a proverb. Book of Proverbs, a canonical book of the Old Testament, containing a great variety of wise maxims.

Syn.

– Maxim; aphorism; apothegm; adage; saw.

Prov"erb, v. t.

1. To name in, or as, a proverb. [R.] Am I not sung and proverbed for a fool Milton.

2. To provide with a proverb. [R.] I am proverbed with a grandsire phrase. Shak.

Prov"erb, v. i.

Definition: To write or utter proverbs. [R.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

3 April 2025

WHOLE

(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”


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Coffee Trivia

The average annual yield from one coffee tree is the equivalent of 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of roasted coffee. It takes about 4,000 hand-picked green coffee beans to make a pound of coffee.

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