Adage

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Adage \Ad"age\, n. [F. adage, fr. L. adagium; ad + the root of
     L. aio I say.]
     An old saying, which has obtained credit by long use; a
     proverb.
     [1913 Webster]
  


           Letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would,"
           Like the poor cat i' the adage.          --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Axiom; maxim; aphorism; proverb; saying; saw; apothegm.
          See {Axiom}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  adage
       n : a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important
           fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
           [syn: {proverb}, {saw}, {byword}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  44 Moby Thesaurus words for "adage":
     ana, analects, aphorism, apothegm, axiom, byword, catchword,
     collected sayings, current saying, dictate, dictum, distich,
     epigram, expression, gnome, golden saying, maxim, moral, mot,
     motto, oracle, phrase, pithy saying, precept, prescript, proverb,
     proverbial saying, proverbs, saw, saying, sentence,
     sententious expression, sloka, stock saying, sutra, teaching, text,
     verse, wisdom, wisdom literature, wise saying, witticism, word,
     words of wisdom
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  ADAGE, n.  Boned wisdom for weak teeth.