proverb

noun

1. 1

   A commonly used sentence expressing popular wisdom.

   Near-synonyms: aphorism, maxim, adage, saw, saying, apothegm, byword, paroemia, sententia (Latin)

   As a Yiddish proverb has it: Badarf men hunik ven tsuker iz zis? Who needs honey when sugar is sweet?

2. 2

   obsoleteAny commonly used turn of phrase expressing a metaphor, simile, or descriptive epithet.

3. 3

   obsoleteA 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.

4. 4

   obsoleteA familiar illustration; a subject of contemptuous reference.

   Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by word, among all nations.

5. 5

   obsoleteA drama exemplifying a proverb.

verb

1. 1

   To write or utter proverbs.

2. 2

   To name in, or as, a proverb.

   Am I not sung and proverbed for a fool / In every street, do they not say, "How well / Are come upon him his deserts?"

3. 3

   To provide with a proverb.

   I am proverbed with a grandsire phrase.

Forms

plural

proverbs

past tense

proverbed

past participle

proverbed

present participle

proverbing

third person singular

proverbs