different between adage vs byword

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French adage, from Latin ad??gium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?æ.d?d?/

Noun

adage (plural adages)

1. An old saying which has obtained credit by long use.

   Synonyms: proverb, colloquialism, apophthegm; see also Thesaurus:saying

2. An old saying which has been overused or considered a cliché; a trite maxim.

   Synonym: old saw

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• adage on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Gadea

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin adagium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.da?/

Noun

adage m (plural adages)

1. adage

Further reading

• “adage” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

From Middle English byword, byworde (“proverb”), from Old English b?word, b?wyrde (“proverb, household word", also "adverb”), from Proto-Germanic *b?wurdij?, equivalent to by- +? word. Compare Latin proverbium, which byword may possibly be a translation of. Cognate with Old High German p?wurti (“proverb”). Compare also Old English b?spel (“proverb, example”), b?cwide (“byword, proverb, tale, fable”), Dutch bijwoord (“adverb”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?ba?.w?(?)d/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?ba?.w?d/

Noun

byword (plural bywords)

1. A proverb or proverbial expression, common saying; a frequently used word or phrase.
2. A characteristic word or expression; a word or phrase associated with a person or group.
3. Someone or something that stands as an example (i.e. metonymically) for something else, by having some of that something's characteristic traits.
4. An object of notoriety or contempt, scorn or derision.
   • 1611, King James Version, Job 17:6:

     He hath made me also a byword of the people ...
5. A nickname or epithet.

Translations

See also

• bispel
• byspel

Further reading

• byword at OneLook Dictionary Search

Middle English

Alternative forms

• biword, by-word, byworde, biworde, bywoorde

Etymology

From Old English b?word, modified from earlier b?wyrde, from Proto-Germanic *b?wurdij?; equivalent to bi- +? word.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi??wurd/, /bi??w?rd/, /bi??w??rd/

Noun

byword

1. byword

Descendants

• English: byword

References

• “b?-w?rd, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 27 February 2020.