apothegm
/ˈæ.pə.θɛm/
apothegm noun: a short, witty, instructive saying; an aphorism or maxim.
Noun
apothegm (plural apothegms)
- A short, witty, instructive saying; an aphorism or maxim.
- Every glaſs of wine, or bit almoſt, that I committed to my mouth, ſhe uſhered thither with ſome Apothegm or other: the whole ſeries, indeed, of her diſcourſe, was compoſed of nothing but reaſon or wit, which made me admire her; which ſhe eaſily underſtood, I perceived by her ſmiles, when ſhe...1665, Richard Head, The English Rogue: Deſcribed, in the Life of Merington Latroon, A Witty Extravagant, Being a Compleat Hiſtory of the Moſt Eminent Cheats of Both Sexes, Henry Marsh, page 355
- The account which he [James Ferguson] himself gives of these observations is exceedingly interesting, and strikingly brings out the ingenuity of his mind, and his determination to allow no difficulties of circumstances to stand in his way. [...] Thus we are reminded of the apothegm that where...1866, W[illiam] K[ing] Tweedie, “James Ferguson. 1710–1776.”, in Youthful Diligence, Future Greatness: A Book for the Young, London; Edinburgh; New York, N.Y.: T[homas] Nelson and Sons, […], →OCLC...
apothegm meaning in Bengali
apothegm in Bengali
- সংক্ষিপ্ত বাণী, চিরন্তন সত্যবাণী
Examples of apothegm in a sentence
- The gnomic belief that the world is conditioned by love is no idle apothegm.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page i:
- I hoped that it was just another literary conceit I ought to know. (It is, I later learned, an apothegm by Ovid.)2008, Dave Duncan, The Alchemist’s Apprentice, Ace Books, →ISBN, page 114:
- “Fashion is not an art,” says [Pierre] Bergé, “but it takes an artist to make fashion.” The 84-year-old unburdens himself of this apothegm with the foxy charm of the late French actor Charles Boyer.2015 November 26, Stephen Smith, “The £30m bookshelf: Pierre Bergé and the greatest stories ever sold”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
Synonyms of apothegm
Forms of apothegm
| plural | apothegms |
|---|---|
| alternative form | apophthegm |
Origin of apothegm
From French apophthegme or Medieval Latin apothegma, from Ancient Greek ἀπόφθεγμα (apóphthegma), from ἀποφθέγγομαι (apophthéngomai, “speak out”).
Questions about apothegm
- What does apothegm mean?
- Apothegm means a short, witty, instructive saying; an aphorism or maxim.
- What is apothegm in Bengali?
- Apothegm in Bengali is সংক্ষিপ্ত বাণী, চিরন্তন সত্যবাণী. See Apothegm meaning in Bengali.
- How do you use apothegm in a sentence?
- The gnomic belief that the world is conditioned by love is no idle apothegm.
- What part of speech is apothegm?
- Apothegm is a noun.
- How do you pronounce apothegm?
- Apothegm is pronounced /ˈæ.pə.θɛm/.
- What is the plural of apothegm?
- The plural of apothegm is apothegms.
Words near apothegm in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: apothegm (page history and authors); apothegm (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-apothegm.ogg.
Cite this entry: “apothegm.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/apothegm. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.