proverb

See also: Proverbs

English

Etymology

From Old French proverbe, from Latin proverbium.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈpɹɒvɜːb/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈpɹɑːvɝːb/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

proverb (plural proverbs)

  1. A phrase expressing a basic truth which may be applied to common situations.
  2. A striking or paradoxical assertion; an obscure saying; an enigma; a parable.
    • Bible, John xvi. 29
      His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.
  3. A familiar illustration; a subject of contemptuous reference.
    • Bible, Deuteronomy xxviii. 37
      Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by word, among all nations.
  4. A drama exemplifying a proverb.

Synonyms

Derived terms
Terms derived from "proverb"

Translations

Verb

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.
    • Shakespeare
      I am proverbed with a grandsire phrase.

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 The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.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, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

See also
  • Category:English proverbs

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin proverbium, French proverbe.

Noun

proverb n (plural proverbe)

  1. saying, proverb, maxim
  2. (dated) proverb (drama exemplifying a proverb)

Declension
declension of proverb
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) proverb proverbul (niște) proverbe proverbele
genitive/dative (unui) proverb proverbului (unor) proverbe proverbelor
vocative proverbule proverbelor

Synonyms
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