What does "proverb" mean?
A commonly used sentence expressing popular wisdom.
Proverb
/ˈpɹɑvɝb/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A commonly used sentence expressing popular wisdom.
- Grammar: proverb is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: adage, adage, adages, ana.
- Usage evidence: "A rolling stone gathers no moss" is a proverb.
How to use "proverb"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "proverb" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "proverb" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "proverb" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "proverb" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "proverb" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "adage" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "proverb", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A commonly used sentence expressing popular wisdom.
"Near-synonyms: aphorism, maxim, adage, saw, saying, apothegm, byword, paroemia, sententia (Latin)"
- 2 a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people wordnet
- 3 Any commonly used turn of phrase expressing a metaphor, simile, or descriptive epithet. obsolete
"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 experience’. Generally it is accepted that a proverb is a short, pithy traditional saying, which contains some widely accepted knowledge, or which offers advice or presents a moral. This present volume also contains many phrases and sayings which are not strictly proverbs as we use the term today, although we may still think of them as such. This situation arises because, prior to the eighteenth century it was common for the term to include metaphors, similes, and descriptive epithets. […] The essence of a proverb lies in it being a ‘traditional saying’ i.e. something which has commonly passed from one generation to another by word of mouth. […] In his book On the Lessons in Proverbs (1852), Richard Chevenix Trenchard says that there is one quality of the proverb which is the most essential of all: "… popularity, acceptance and adoption on the part of the people. Without this popularity, without these suffrages and this consent of the many, no saying, however seasoned with salt, however worthy on all these accounts to have become a proverb, however fulfilling all other its conditions, can yet be esteemed as such.""
- 4 A striking or paradoxical assertion; an obscure saying; an enigma; a parable. obsolete
"His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb."
- 5 A familiar illustration; a subject of contemptuous reference. obsolete
"Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by word, among all nations."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A drama exemplifying a proverb. obsolete
Verb
- 1 To write or utter proverbs.
- 2 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?""
- 3 To provide with a proverb.
"I am proverbed with a grandsire phrase."
Example
""A rolling stone gathers no moss" is a proverb."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "proverb"?
Common synonyms include: adage, adage, adages, ana, analects, aphorism.
How do you use "proverb" in a sentence?
"A rolling stone gathers no moss" is a proverb.
How do you pronounce "proverb"?
Pronounced /ˈpɹɑvɝb/.
Etymology
From Old French proverbe, from Latin proverbium.