Proverbs
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prov·erb
(prŏv′ûrb′)n.
1. A short pithy saying in frequent and widespread use that expresses a basic truth or practical precept.
2. Proverbs(used with a sing. verb) See Table at Bible.
[Middle English proverbe, from Old French, from Latin prōverbium : prō-, forth; see pro-1 + verbum, word; see wer- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Proverbs
(ˈprɒvɜːbz)n
(Bible) (functioning as singular) a book of the Old Testament consisting of the proverbs of various Israelite sages including Solomon
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Prov•erbs
(ˈprɒv ərbz)n.
(used with a sing. v.) a book of the Bible, containing the sayings of sages.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Proverbs
See also wisdom.
a maxim, axiom, proverb, or old saying.
1. a fragment or extract from literature.
2. a collection of teachings, as the Analects of Confucius.
2. a collection of teachings, as the Analects of Confucius.
a terse saying embodying a general truth, as “Time flies.” — aphorist, n. — aphorismic, aphorismical, aphoristic, adj.
a creator of short, pithy instructive sayings; aphorist. — apothegmatic, apophthegmatic, apothegmatical, apophthegmatical, adj. — apothegm, apophthegm, n.
a trite saying; a platitude.
a pithy statement, often containing a paradox. — epigrammatist, n.
1. a collection or anthology of gnomes, or aphorisms.
2. aphoristic writing.
2. aphoristic writing.
maxims or sayings attributed to a religious leader. See also christ.
a short, pithy statement that serves as a motto. — maximist, n.
a rhetorical proverb. — paroemiac, adj.
1. the writing of proverbs.
2. the collecting of proverbs. — paroemiographer, n.
2. the collecting of proverbs. — paroemiographer, n.
the study of proverbs. — paroemiologist, paremiologist, n.
1. proverbs taken as a group.
2. proverbs taken as a field of study. — proverbiologist, n. — proverbiological, adj.
2. proverbs taken as a field of study. — proverbiologist, n. — proverbiological, adj.
an aphorism or witty saying.
-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Maxims, Proverbs and Sayings
- Browsing through a book of proverb … it’s like taking a turn in a garden … full of roses and fruit, where the bushes speak to you; and I come back rested, with smiles in my mind —Anatole France
- Figures of speech are risky; for in art, as in arithmetic, many have no head for figures —G. K. Chesterton
- Genuine proverbs are like good (kambrick) needles, short, sharp, and shiny —Josh Billings
The first word was originally in Billings’ phonetic dialect: ‘ginowine.’
- His sayings are generally like women’s letters; all the pith is in the postscript —William Hazlitt
The man with the pith in his postscripts was Charles Lamb.
- Like many cliches, it has the ring of truth —Anon
- A man of maxims only is like a Cyclops with one eye, and that eye placed in the back of his head —Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Maxims are like lawyers who must needs see but one side of the case —Gelett Burgess
- Proverbs, like the sacred books of each nation, are the sanctuary of the intuitions —Ralph Waldo Emerson
- A proverb without wisdom is like a body without a foot —Moses Ibn Ezra
- Rustic sayings which she threw, like flowers, into the conversation —Anatole France
- A saying is like a fruit; one has first to eat it … before one can know its taste —Sholem Asch
- Sayings by wise men … they are like burning glasses, as they collect the diffused rays of wit and learning in authors, and make them point with warmth and quickness on the reader’s imagination —Jonathan Swift
- Sayings by wise men … they are of great value, like the dust of gold, or the sparks of diamonds —John Tillotson
- Similes are like songs on love: they much describe; they nothing prove —Matthew Prior
- Similes dangle like baubles from me —William H. Gass
- A word [that’s been overused] … lost its identity like an old coat in a second-hand shop —Anaĩs Nin
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Noun | 1. | Proverbs - an Old Testament book consisting of proverbs from various Israeli sages (including Solomon) Old Testament - the collection of books comprising the sacred scripture of the Hebrews and recording their history as the chosen people; the first half of the Christian Bible sapiential book, wisdom book, wisdom literature - any of the biblical books (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus) that are considered to contain wisdom |
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