proverb Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
saw; byword; adage.

OE. proverbe, F. proverbe, from L. proverbium; pro before, for + verbum a word. See Verb.

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.
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.
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.
A drama exemplifying a proverb. Syn. -- Maxim; aphorism; apothegm; adage; saw.

To name in, or as, a proverb. R.
Am I not sung and proverbed for a fool ? Milton.
To provide with a proverb. R.
I am proverbed with a grandsire phrase. Shak.