PROVERBING

Verb

proverbing

present participle of proverb

Source: Wiktionary

PROVERB

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