proverb

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: pro-verb and Proverbs

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From Old French proverbe, from Latin proverbium.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

proverb (plural proverbs)

  1. A commonly used sentence expressing popular wisdom.
    Coordinate terms: epigram, idiom; see also Thesaurus:saying
    Near-synonyms: aphorism, maxim
  2. (obsolete) A striking or paradoxical assertion; an obscure saying; an enigma; a parable.
  3. (obsolete) A familiar illustration; a subject of contemptuous reference.
  4. (obsolete) A drama exemplifying a proverb.

Synonyms

[edit]

Derived terms

[edit]

Translations

[edit]

Verb

[edit]

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

  1. To write or utter proverbs.
  2. To name in, or as, a proverb.
    • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 203–205:
      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. To provide with a proverb.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for proverb”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Romanian

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

Borrowed from Latin proverbium, French proverbe.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

proverb n (plural proverbe)

  1. saying, proverb, maxim
    Synonyms: parimie, zicală, zicătoare
  2. (dated) proverb (drama exemplifying a proverb)

Declension

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]