proverb
UK/ˈpɹɒvɜːb//ˈpɹɑˌvɝb/
proverb noun: a commonly used sentence expressing popular wisdom.
Noun
proverb (plural proverbs)
- A commonly used sentence expressing popular wisdom.
- Near-synonyms: aphorism, maxim, adage, saw, saying, apothegm, byword, paroemia, sententia (Latin)
- As a Yiddish proverb has it: Badarf men hunik ven tsuker iz zis? Who needs honey when sugar is sweet?2007 January 26, Stefan Kanfer, “In Lower Manhattan, the Echo of the Yiddish Stage Endures”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2019
- Any commonly used turn of phrase expressing a metaphor, simile, or descriptive epithet.
- The definition of a proverb is no simple matter and has occupied scholars from Ancient Greece until the present day. Lord John Russell defined the proverb as ‘the wisdom of many and the wit of one’. The celebrated Spanish writer Cervantes said that a proverb is ‘a short sentence drawn from long...2021 [1996], Colin S.K. Walker, Scottish Proverbs, Edinburgh, Scotland: Birlinn, →ISBN
- 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.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 16:29
- A familiar illustration; a subject of contemptuous reference.
- Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by word, among all nations.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 28:37
- A drama exemplifying a proverb.
Verb
proverb (third-person singular simple present proverbs, present participle proverbing, simple past and past participle proverbed)
- To write or utter proverbs.
- To name in, or as, a proverb.
- Am I not sung and proverbed for a fool / In every street, do they not say, "How well / Are come upon him his deserts?"1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 203–205
- To provide with a proverb.
- I am proverbed with a grandsire phrase.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
proverb meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
proverb in Hindi
- phrase expressing a basic truth
- कहावत kahāvat, मसल masal, लोकोक्ति lokokti, ज़र्ब-उल-मसल zarb-ul-masal
proverb in Tamil
- phrase expressing a basic truth
- பழமொழி paḻamoḻi
proverb in Marathi
- phrase expressing a basic truth
- म्हण mhaṇ, लोकोक्ती lokoktī
proverb in Urdu
- phrase expressing a basic truth
- مَثَل masal, کَہاوَت kahāvat, ضَرْبُ الْمَثَل zarbu l-masal
More languagesFewer languages
- proverb in Bengali
- প্রবাদ probad
- proverb in Telugu
- నానుడి nānuḍi, సామెత sāmeta, లోకోక్తి lōkōkti
- proverb in Malayalam
- പഴഞ്ചൊല്ല് paḻañcollŭ, പഴമൊഴി paḻamoḻi
- proverb in Kannada
- ಗಾದೆ, ನಾಣ್ನುಡಿ, ಸಾಮತಿ, ಲೋಕೋಕ್ತಿ
- proverb in Punjabi
- ਕਹਾਵਤ, ਇੱਕ ਕਹਾਵਤ
- proverb in Gujarati
- કહેવત kahevat
- proverb in Odia
- କଥା kathā
- proverb in Pashto
- متل matál, مثل masál, ضرب المثل zarbo l-masal
- proverb in Tagalog
- salawikain
- proverb in Arabic
- مَثَل maṯal, حِكْمَة ḥikma, مَقَال maqāl, ضَرْب مَثَل ḍarb maṯal
- proverb in Malay
- peribahasa
- proverb in Indonesian
- peribahasa
- proverb in Thai
- ภาษิต paa-sìt, สุภาษิต sù-paa-sìt
- proverb in Vietnamese
- tục ngữ
- proverb in Myanmar
- စကားပုံ ca.ka:pum, ဆိုထုံး hcuihtum:
Examples of proverb in a sentence
- The definition of a proverb is no simple matter and has occupied scholars from Ancient Greece until the present day.2021 [1996], Colin S.K. Walker, Scottish Proverbs, Edinburgh, Scotland: Birlinn, →ISBN:
- Lord John Russell defined the proverb as ‘the wisdom of many and the wit of one’.2021 [1996], Colin S.K. Walker, Scottish Proverbs, Edinburgh, Scotland: Birlinn, →ISBN:
Synonyms of proverb
Forms of proverb
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | proverbs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | proverbs |
| present participle | proverbing |
| past participle | proverbed |
| past | proverbed |
Origin of proverb
From Old French proverbe, from Latin proverbium.
Words formed from proverb
Questions about proverb
- What does proverb mean?
- Proverb means a commonly used sentence expressing popular wisdom.
- What is proverb in Hindi?
- Proverb in Hindi is कहावत (kahāvat), मसल (masal), लोकोक्ति (lokokti). See Proverb meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use proverb in a sentence?
- The definition of a proverb is no simple matter and has occupied scholars from Ancient Greece until the present day.
- What part of speech is proverb?
- Proverb can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce proverb?
- Proverb is pronounced /ˈpɹɒvɜːb/ (UK).
- What is the plural of proverb?
- The plural of proverb is proverbs.
Words near proverb in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: proverb (page history and authors); proverb (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); proverb (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); କଥା (Odia) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-proverb.ogg.
Cite this entry: “proverb.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/proverb. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.