proverbn.

Brit.

/ˈprɒvəːb/, U.S.

/ˈprɑˌvərb/

Forms: Middle English prouerble (transmission error), Middle English prouerbyys (plural), Middle English prouerd (transmission error), Middle English proveerb, Middle English prowerbe, Middle English–1600s prouerb, Middle English–1600s prouerbe, Middle English–1600s proverbe, Middle English– proverb; Scottish pre-1700 prouerb, pre-1700 prouerbe, pre-1700 proveirb, pre-1700 proverbe, pre-1700 prowerb, pre-1700 prowerbe, pre-1700 1700s– proverb.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French proverb; Latin prōverbium.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman proverb, Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French proverbe short well-known saying, moral maxim, also trite phrase in common use (all late 12th cent. in Old French), (in plural) Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures (early 13th cent.), parable (second quarter of the 13th cent. in an apparently isolated attestation, subsequently from mid 16th cent.), short play whose plot illustrates a proverb (1768) and its etymon classical Latin prōverbium old saying, proverb, proverbial expression, in post-classical Latin also byword, parable, enigma (Vulgate), (in plural) Book of Proverbs (c1343, c1534 in British sources) < prō- pro- prefix¹ + verbum word (see verb n.) + -ium (see -y suffix⁴). Compare Old Occitan proverbi (11th cent. in sense ‘parable’), Catalan proverbi (beginning of the 14th cent.), Spanish proverbio (first half of the 13th cent.), Portuguese provérbio (14th cent.), Italian proverbio (early 13th cent.). N.E.D. (1909) gives the pronunciation as (prǫ·vəɹb) /ˈprɒvəb/. A similar pronunciation, with short /ə/ in the second syllable, is given as an alternative in editions of D. Jones Eng. Pronouncing Dict. down to ed. 13 (1967).

a. A short, traditional, and pithy saying; a concise sentence, typically metaphorical or alliterative in form, stating a general truth or piece of advice; an adage or maxim.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > proverb > [noun]

byspelc1000

bywordc1050

forbysena1250

riotc1330

proverbc1375

sayingc1390

paroemia1550

nayworda1616

diverb1624

proverbial1645

sooth1655

proverbialism1830

the mind > language > linguistics > linguistic unit > phrase > [noun] > proverb

proverbc1375

ditton1572

the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > an individual case or instance > [noun] > typical or representative case > that which typically exhibits a quality

image?1534

abridgement1605

abstracta1616

proverb1659

incarnation1821

imprint1857

embodiment1868

c1375 G. Chaucer Monk's Tale 3436 What man that hath freendes thurgh fortune, Mishap wol make hem enemys, I gesse; This prouerbe is ful sooth and ful commune.

a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) 299 Proverbes kanst thiself ynowe..Ayeins that vice.

c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine (Arun. 396) (1893) ii. 254 The grey hors, whil his gres groweth, May sterue for hunger; thus seyth the prouerbe.

1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 8 It is a comyn prouerbe An Enemyes mouth, sayth seeld wel.

1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique ii. f. 66 What nede I heape all these together, seynge Heywodes Prouerbes are in prynte?

1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 47 As the Prouerbe in Englande is, Set a Knaue on horsebacke, and you shall see him shoulder a Knight.

1601 J. Wheeler Treat. Commerce 58 For it is merry in Hall, where beards wagge all, according to that olde right English Prouerbe of our Ancestours.

1659 J. Howell To Knowingest Kind of Philologers in Proverbs sig. a4, in Lex. Tetraglotton (1660) Proverbs may not improperly be called the Philosophy of the Common Peeple, or, according to Aristotle, the truest Reliques of old Philosophy.

1694 R. South 12 Serm. II. 171 What is a Proverb, but the Experience and Observation of several Ages, gathered and summ'd up into one Expression?

1768 D. Garrick Let. 13 Sept. (1963) II. 626 We have a proverb that says—out of sight, out of mind; I fear it is so with him.

1792 H. H. Brackenridge Mod. Chivalry (1937) III. i. 11 It comes to the old proverb at last, Ne sutor ultra crepidam, Let the cobler stick to his last.

1832 E. C. Wines Two Years & Half in Amer. Navy (1833) II. 142 Let them act upon the principal of the old Spanish proverb, El que no sabe lo que es la guerra, que vaya a ver [note ‘He who is ignorant of what war is, let him become a soldier’].

1850 H. Martineau Introd. Hist. Peace II. iv. xii. 159 Hence it was that those words..passed..into a proverb.

1871 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows 162 Sancho, with his stock of proverbs, the ready money of human experience.

1909 Chatterbox 166/2 The ‘saying’ referred to is not..a familiar proverb or an ancient adage.

1953 R. Davies Enthusiasms (1991) 33 There is a Welsh proverb which says ‘A spoon does not know the taste of soup, nor a learned fool the taste of wisdom’.

1992 Economist 4 Jan. 58/3 ‘Better to be in front of a chicken, than behind a pig’ goes a Taiwanese proverb.

b. (the Book of) Proverbs n. a book of the Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures comprising several collections of maxims and instructive sayings in poetic form, attributed to Solomon or other authors.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > Testament > Old Testament > divisions of Old Testament > [noun] > Proverbs

(the Book of) Proverbsa1382

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1963) Kings Prol. 53 Þe þredde [part] is of Salamon, hafynge thre bookis, prouerbis þat þei clepyn parablys, þat is, Masloth; þe ferþe ecclesiasten..þe fifþe is song of songes.

a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 11904 Salamon seyþ..Yn a boke of Prouerbyys.

c1450 (a1400) R. Lavynham Treat. Seven Deadly Sins (Harl. 211) (1956) 14 (MED) It is alwey good to fle þe company of þe enuyous man, as Salomon consaylith in his bok of prouerbis.

a1530 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfeccyon (1531) iii. f. CCxii^v Than shall it be veryfyed that Salomon sayth in his prouerbes.

1595 W. Burton Rowsing of Sluggard i. 9 Wherfore is she good, or what profite commeth by her,..that had neuer any leisure yet to peruse the Prouerbes of Salomon?

1659 H. Thorndike Epil. Trag. Church Eng. i. xxxi. 212 Ecclesiasticus..descants indeed upon Solomons plain song, in the VIII^th and IX^th of the Proverbs.

1699 Old Kirk Chron. 81 Three duzan Bybles..with some duzan Proverbs.

a1732 T. Boston Crook in Lot (1805) 73 Solomon..fronts his writings, in the beginning of the Proverbs, with most express gospel.

1784 T. Holcroft Noble Peasant ii. iii. 33 Your discourse is such a mixture of sense and nonsense, that it is like reading the Proverbs of Solomon, interlined with the merry exploits of Jack the Giant-killer.

1859 Harper's Mag. Feb. 408/1 The aphoristic form is peculiar to the book of Proverbs alone.

1880 W. Newton Serm. for Boys & Girls (1881) 203 He turned to the third chapter of Proverbs and read it over.

1913 G. F. Moore Lit. Old Test. xxiii. 240 Job..belongs to the literature of Jewish Wisdom, with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

1938 Jewish Q. Rev. 29 113 The memra was personified in Jewish religious thought as Wisdom had been personified in Proverbs.

2002 Black Music Res. Jrnl. 22 106 The dirijan recited a few verses from the book of Proverbs.

†c. to a proverb: to an extent that has become proverbial; proverbially. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > [adverb] > much talked about > proverbially

proverbially1653

to a proverb1743

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xiii. f. 296^v The admirable prowes of Amphialus (by a contrarie) brought forth the remembrance of the cowardise of Clinias: in so much, as it grew almost to a prouerb.

1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (1 Cor. i. 26) Hence it grew to a Proverb.., That Hell was paved with Priests shaven crowns, and great mens head-pieces.

1660 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. III. iii. 13 Abdera a Town of Thrace, noted for the simplicity of the Inhabitants which grew even to a proverb.

1683 W. Kennett tr. Erasmus Witt against Wisdom 48 Who is so silly as to be Ignoramus to a Proverb?

1743 in A. D. Candler et al. Georgia Rec. (c1913–16) XXIII. 513 He had then recourse to his Usual Salve, (well known, to all persons at Savannah with whom he converses, even to a proverb) That He was Seventy Years of Age, His Memory decayed, etc.

1766 J. Fordyce Serm. Young Women II. xii. 271 That revengeful disposition, of which your sex have been accused even to a proverb.

1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. Pref. 7 To depend on foreigners, partial, to a proverb, to their own country.

1817 J. Evans Excursion to Windsor 482 A country, swampy even to a proverb.

1865 E. C. Gaskell Cousin Phillis ii. 56 Our air here is good to a proverb.

1888 Times 21 Jan. 15/3 The fondness of the missel bird for the mistletoe was remarked on by the Romans, even to a proverb.

†a. A general term of contempt or reproach; (also) a person who or thing which is the object of scorn; = byword n. 2. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > [noun] > person or thing much talked about > that has become proverbial

proverba1382

byword1535

fable1535

myth1853

the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > condition of being held in contempt > [noun] > state or quality of being contemptible > object of contempt > proverbially

proverba1382

byword1535

by-talk1579

the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > [noun] > action of expressing contempt > vocally > a word of contempt

proverb1535

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) 3 Kings ix. 7 Israel schal ben in to prouerbe [L. proverbium] & in to fable to alle peplis [1535 Coverd. shall be come a byworde and fabell amonge all nacions].

c1410 tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 109 Westsex men haveþ in proverbe [L. habent in proverbio] of hiȝe despite ‘hynderlyng’ whiche sowneþ i-cast doun fro honeste.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Hab. ii. B Shall not all these take vp a prouerbe agaynst him, and mocke him with a byworde?

1560 Bible (Geneva) Deut. xxviii. 37 And thou shalt be a wonder, a prouerbe & a commune talke among all people.

1662 W. Austin Triumphus Hymenæus sig. H^v/1 Aphetoriae opes..is used as a proverb for abundance of wealth.

1680 Bp. G. Burnet Some Passages Life Earl of Rochester 173 One of the Glories of his Age was become a Proverb.

1757 J. Wesley Let. 19 Sept. (1931) III. 226 God never used us to any purpose till we were a proverb of reproach.

1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1776 II. 73 [Johnson:] He should take care not to be made a proverb.

1794 S. T. Coleridge Coll. Lett. (1956) I. 67 I became a proverb to the University for Idleness—the time which I should have bestowed on the academic studies, I employed in dreaming out wild Schemes of impossible extrication.

a1859 W. C. Roscoe Poems (1860) v. iv. 204 Build up the copestone of my ignominy, And make my name a proverb of contempt.

b. A thing that is proverbial or commonly known. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1675 R. Ferguson Interest of Reason in Relig. 133 The Platonick and Pythagorick numbers grew into a proverb for their Darkness.

1707 J. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) i. iii. 10 Buckinghamshire Bread and Beef is a Proverb for their Goodness.

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 509. ⁋8 Mr. Hobson,..when a Man came for a Horse,..obliged him to take the Horse which stood next to the Stable-Door... From whence it became a Proverb..to say ‘Hobson's Choice’.

1771 C. Powys Passages from Diaries Mrs. Powys (1899) 138 This daughter..I've long known by name, being almost a proverb for plainness.

1847 P. H. Gosse & R. Hill Birds of Jamaica 47 The Potoo has become a proverb of ugliness.

1854 J. H. Newman Lect. Hist. Turks ii. i. 72 Siberia goes for a proverb for cold: India is a proverb for heat.

1876 in Ld. Houghton Poet. Wks. 17 The repute of Tempe as a proverb of surpassing beauty, is exclusively Roman.

1976 Times 10 Jan. 6/2 The White Clown stands forth in the parade, his limp arms dangling down his white casaque, his feet turned outwards, a proverb of naivity.

†3. A mysterious or ambiguous saying that requires interpretation; an allegory, a parable. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > figure of speech > figures of meaning > [noun] > allegory > an allegory

likenessc1175

parablec1250

proverbc1384

similitudea1425

allegoryc1450

semblable1547

allusion1548

mythology1603

parabolic1829

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) John xvi. 25 I haue spokun to ȝou thes thingis in prouerbis [L. proverbiis], or derke saumplis; the our cometh whanne now I schal not speke to ȝou in prouerbis [L. proverbiis], but opynly.

?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 99^v A Proverbe, parabola.

1526 Bible (Tyndale) John xvi. f. cxlv^v His disciples sayd vnto hym: loo nowe speakest thou playnly, and thou vsest no proverbe.

1611 Bible (King James) Prov. i. 6 To vnderstand a prouerbe, and the interpretation; the wordes of the wise, and their darke sayings.

1787 G. Gregory tr. R. Lowth Lect. Sacred Poetry Hebrews II. 172 Some obscurity succeeds, when the principal, or perhaps the whole force of a proverb or parable, does not lie in the direct and literal sense.

1841 R. C. Trench Parables (1877) i. 7 Those are called ‘proverbs’ in St. John, which, if not strictly parables, yet claim much closer affinity to the parable than to the proverb, being in fact allegories.

4. A play, esp. a French play, which uses a proverb as the foundation of the plot. Now chiefly historical.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > other types of play

king play1469

king game1504

historya1509

chronicle history1600

monology1608

horseplaya1627

piscatory1631

stock play1708

petite pièce1712

mimic1724

ballad opera1730

ballad farce1735

benefit-play1740

potboiler1783

monodrama1793

extravaganza1797

theo-drama1801

monodrame1803

proverb1803

stock piece1804

bespeak1807

ticket-night1812

dramaticle1813

monopolylogue1819

pièce d'occasion1830

interlude1831

mimea1834

costume piece1834

mummers' play1849

history play1850

gag-piece1860

music drama1874

well-made1881

playlet1884

two-decker1884

slum1885

kinderspiel1886

thrill1886

knockabout1887

two-hander1888

front-piece1889

thriller1889

shadow-play1890

mime play1894

problem play1894

one-acter1895

sex play1899

chronicle drama1902

thesis-play1902

star vehicle1904

folk-play1905

radio play1908

tab1915

spy play1919

one-act1920

pièce à thèse1923

dance-drama1924

a mess of plottage1926

turkey1927

weepie1928

musical1930

cliffhanger1931

mime drama1931

triangle drama1931

weeper1934

spine-chiller1940

starrer1941

scorcher1942

teleplay1947

straw-hatter1949

pièce noire1951

pièce rose1951

tab show1951

conversation piece1952

psychodrama1956

whydunit1968

mystery play1975

State of the Nation1980

1803 B. Greatheed Jrnl. 22 Jan. (1953) iii. 34 There you see half a dozen farces or proverbs of a night, smartly playd, particularly by Brunet who is a very good actor.

1842 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art 994/1 Proverb..In dramatic literature..the term has been applied to short pieces, in which some proverb or popular saying is taken as the foundation of the plot... Carmantelli was the most successful writer of proverbs at the time of their highest popularity.

1879 J. Knight in Athenæum 28 June [With reference to the Comédie Française, then in England] The comedies or the proverbs of Musset meanwhile defy the translator, and their representation calls for a class of acting of which our stage knows nothing.

1893 Nation (N.Y.) 20 July 50/3 She [sc. Comtesse de Chambrun]..was fond of acting in her own private theatre... Sometimes she wrote a ‘proverb’ herself, and created the principal part.

1929 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 7 Mar. (Mag. section) 1/3 The second offering is a proverb in one act.

1974 French Rev. 48 390 For advanced students, it is even possible to return to one form of the dramatic proverb, by having them prepare a skit exemplifying a proverb.

2000 P. Gethner in A. R. Larsen & C. H. Winn Revolutionary French Women xix. 377 A dramatic proverb is a playlet, usually comic.., that illustrates a well-known proverb without using that proverb in the text.

5. In plural. A name for various games played with proverbs or popular sayings, esp. one in which a proverb is to be guessed by asking questions of a circle of players, whose answers must introduce in order each word of it.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > parlour and party games > [noun] > guessing game > specific

what's my thought like?1748

twenty questions1786

charade1826

how, when, and where1843

proverbs1855

hy-spy1876

game1937

I spy (with my little eye)1946

1738 Gentleman's Mag. Feb. 80/2 With King James the 1st, and the Scottish Nation, was introduced the acting of Proverbs and Games of Dumb-shew.]

1855 Home Games for People 104 Proverbs. One of the party is sent out of the room: the rest busying themselves with thinking of a proverb..to be discovered by him on his return.

1867 ‘Aunt Carrie’ Pop. Pastimes for Field & Fireside 188 Proverbs. The company select some one to leave the room; those remaining agree upon a proverb [etc.].

1879 ‘L. Hoffmann’ Drawing-room Amusem. ii. 50 Proverbs. This is another ‘guessing’ game.

1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 236/3 Proverbs. The old standard game revised, consisting of 100 cards containing the best proverbs.

1910 W. Owen Let. 27 Dec. (1967) 66 We have been playing games (e.g. Proverbs, Memory Tray, etc.) this evening.

1975 Way to Play 257/2 Proverbs... It is sometimes called hidden proverbs, or guessing proverbs.

1984 T. Augarde Oxf. Guide Word Games iii. 28 Proverbs is not normally an acting game, although E. M. Baker in Indoor Games (1912) describes an acted form of it.

Compounds

General attributive and objective.

proverb card n.

ΚΠ

1708 O. Dykes Moral Reflexions Eng. Prov. 274 A Pack of Proverb-Cards, lately printed, and curiously engrav'd with Figures.

1893 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 6 220 The Iroha, or Proverb cards, also consist of ninety-six cards.

1966 S. Mann Collecting Playing Cards vii. 141 Proverb Cards, containing pleasant Devices, suited to the most witty English Proverbs. Made c. 1700.

1998 Asahi Shimbun (Japan) (Nexis) 28 Mar. As the proverb cards are randomly read, the players must spot and quickly seize the matching ‘taking’ card.

proverb-hunting n.

ΚΠ

1902 F. E. Hulme Proverb-lore 89 Proverb-hunting is a very pleasant recreation.

1952 Shakespeare Q. 3 263 I know too well the sinister effect of proverb-hunting upon mental equilibrium.

1998 T. M. Krier Refiguring Chaucer in Renaissance i. 11 Speght's proverb hunting poses a difficulty.

proverb-monger n.

ΚΠ

1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. D^v Without the consent of some great prouerb-monger.

1679 R. Barclay Apol. True Christian Divinity xvii. 187 By coining this it seems he affects to be a Proverb-monger.

?1769 C. H. Wilmot tr. M. de Cervantes Saavedra Hist. Renowned Don Quixote II. 214 ‘Hold, thou confounded proverb-monger!’ said the knight.

1857 M. Gatty Legendary Tales (1858) 4 A genuine proverb-monger—he who chills off your enthusiasm by a tame truism.

2004 Aberdeen (Scotl.) Press & Jrnl. (Nexis) 6 Sept. 4 Like a Chinese proverb-monger, the Royal Bank of Scotland says the North Sea is at an ‘interesting stage’ for oil & gas players and money providers alike.

proverb wisdom n.

ΚΠ

1902 F. E. Hulme Proverb-lore 229 Wealth has its store of proverb-wisdom even in more abundance than poverty has.

2005 M. K. Asante & A. Mazama Encycl. Black Stud. 138/1 Dialectics on oral traditions, proverb wisdom, spirituals, and the Luo concept of time.

Derivatives

ˈproverb-like adj. and adv.

ΚΠ

c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme xliv. 53 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 36 Prouerb-like our name is worne.

1612 T. Wilson Christian Dict. 102 [It] makes the whole expression much sweeter, and proverb-like in the original Heb[rew].

1891 Old & New Test. Student 13 35 The truth of the superscription that makes Solomon the author of this psalm, is confirmed by the many figures in it drawn from nature..and by its proverb-like movement.

1993 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 16 Dec. 70 (advt.) Willis Barnstone offers humorous proverb-like poems that combine playful use of paradox with everyday images and sudden insights.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

proverbv.

Brit.

/ˈprɒvəːb/, U.S.

/ˈprɑˌvərb/

Forms: see proverb n.

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: proverb n.

Etymology: < proverb n. Compare post-classical Latin proverbiari to speak forth, declare (11th cent.), to speak in proverbs (12th cent.).

1. transitive. To utter in the form of a proverb; to speak of proverbially; to make a byword of.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > proverb > utter or describe proverbially [verb (transitive)]

proverba1425

proverbize1605

the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > infamy or notoriety > make infamous [verb (transitive)] > proverbially

proverb1671

a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) iii. 293 Thise wise clerkes that ben dede Han evere..proverbed to us yonge That ‘firste vertu is to kepe tonge’.

1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. E You haue most learnedly prouerbde it, commending the vertue of patience or forbearance.

1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 203 Am I not sung and proverbd for a Fool In every street..?

1711 C. Brent Ess. concerning Nature & Guilt of Lying 186 He shall be sensible that he is become discredited, and Proverbed for a Lyar.

1799 S. Turner Hist. Anglo-Saxons I. 39 He has been proverbed for his fidelity.

1823 I. D'Israeli Curiosities of Lit. 2nd Ser. I. 457 Nations proverb each other; counties flout counties.

1841 Ld. J. Manners England's Trust ii. 64 One short month should hear his dastard name Proverbed as emblem of disgrace and shame.

1857 O. B. Bunce Love in '76 i. 7 Oh, sir, if staleness went to make their age, they would be proverbed instead of Methuselah.

1915 Washington Post 25 June 8/4 Some wiseacre, probably when baseball was in its infancy, proverbed something regarding every dog having its day.

1995 J. H. Lamb Rhetoric of Suffering ii. 39 Like Samson, he is sung and proverbed: ‘And now I am their song, yea, I am their by-word’.

2. transitive (in passive). To be provided with a proverb; to be quoted a proverb as a reproach. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > proverb > utter or describe proverbially [verb (transitive)] > provide with a proverb

proverb1597

1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. iv. 37 I am prouerbd with a Grandsire phrase, Ile be a candleholder and looke on.

1885 P. Holdsworth Station Hunting on Warrego 16 I am proverbed with tauntings by fools, and contemned as unclean by the just.

1997 R. P. Honeck Prov. in Mind 83 ‘Dad, I know I should have put the car in the garage but I was busy,’ said by a teenager who got proverbed with ‘A stitch’ after the car was hit while parked in the street.

3. intransitive. To utter or compose proverbs. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > proverb > compose or utter proverbs [verb (intransitive)]

proverb1649

proverbialize1777

1649 [see proverbing n. at Derivatives].

1956 Nevada State Jrnl. 18 July 8/8 White is probably proverbing to himself today as he breathes the air of freedom.

Derivatives

† proverbed adj. Obsolete

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > proverb > [adjective]

proverbial?a1475

paroemial1652

proverbed1788

paroemiac1820

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > proverb > [adjective] > furnished with proverbs

proverbed1788

1788 R. Burns Let. 2 Aug. (2001) I. 260 Unlike sage, proverb'd Wisdom's hard-wrung boon.

1845 S. Turner Richard III Pref. 8 A regular story, corresponding with this proverbed King's real story, or rather biography.

ˈproverbing n. rare

ΚΠ

1649 J. Milton Observations in Articles of Peace with Irish Rebels 64 All thir paines tak'n to seem so wise in proverbing, serves but to conclude them down right slaves.

1992 L. Haring Verbal Arts in Madagascar i. 33 Riddling, proverbing, exchanging hainteny, and formal speechmaking are all games in the formal sense defined by Brian Sutton-Smith.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	proverb
释义	proverbn. Brit. /ˈprɒvəːb/, U.S. /ˈprɑˌvərb/ Forms: Middle English prouerble (transmission error), Middle English prouerbyys (plural), Middle English prouerd (transmission error), Middle English proveerb, Middle English prowerbe, Middle English–1600s prouerb, Middle English–1600s prouerbe, Middle English–1600s proverbe, Middle English– proverb; Scottish pre-1700 prouerb, pre-1700 prouerbe, pre-1700 proveirb, pre-1700 proverbe, pre-1700 prowerb, pre-1700 prowerbe, pre-1700 1700s– proverb. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French proverb; Latin prōverbium. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman proverb, Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French proverbe short well-known saying, moral maxim, also trite phrase in common use (all late 12th cent. in Old French), (in plural) Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures (early 13th cent.), parable (second quarter of the 13th cent. in an apparently isolated attestation, subsequently from mid 16th cent.), short play whose plot illustrates a proverb (1768) and its etymon classical Latin prōverbium old saying, proverb, proverbial expression, in post-classical Latin also byword, parable, enigma (Vulgate), (in plural) Book of Proverbs (c1343, c1534 in British sources) < prō- pro- prefix¹ + verbum word (see verb n.) + -ium (see -y suffix⁴). Compare Old Occitan proverbi (11th cent. in sense ‘parable’), Catalan proverbi (beginning of the 14th cent.), Spanish proverbio (first half of the 13th cent.), Portuguese provérbio (14th cent.), Italian proverbio (early 13th cent.). N.E.D. (1909) gives the pronunciation as (prǫ·vəɹb) /ˈprɒvəb/. A similar pronunciation, with short /ə/ in the second syllable, is given as an alternative in editions of D. Jones Eng. Pronouncing Dict. down to ed. 13 (1967). 1. a. A short, traditional, and pithy saying; a concise sentence, typically metaphorical or alliterative in form, stating a general truth or piece of advice; an adage or maxim. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > proverb > [noun] byspelc1000 bywordc1050 forbysena1250 riotc1330 proverbc1375 sayingc1390 paroemia1550 nayworda1616 diverb1624 proverbial1645 sooth1655 proverbialism1830 the mind > language > linguistics > linguistic unit > phrase > [noun] > proverb proverbc1375 ditton1572 the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > an individual case or instance > [noun] > typical or representative case > that which typically exhibits a quality image?1534 abridgement1605 abstracta1616 proverb1659 incarnation1821 imprint1857 embodiment1868 c1375 G. Chaucer Monk's Tale 3436 What man that hath freendes thurgh fortune, Mishap wol make hem enemys, I gesse; This prouerbe is ful sooth and ful commune. a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) 299 Proverbes kanst thiself ynowe..Ayeins that vice. c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine (Arun. 396) (1893) ii. 254 The grey hors, whil his gres groweth, May sterue for hunger; thus seyth the prouerbe. 1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 8 It is a comyn prouerbe An Enemyes mouth, sayth seeld wel. 1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique ii. f. 66 What nede I heape all these together, seynge Heywodes Prouerbes are in prynte? 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 47 As the Prouerbe in Englande is, Set a Knaue on horsebacke, and you shall see him shoulder a Knight. 1601 J. Wheeler Treat. Commerce 58 For it is merry in Hall, where beards wagge all, according to that olde right English Prouerbe of our Ancestours. 1659 J. Howell To Knowingest Kind of Philologers in Proverbs sig. a4, in Lex. Tetraglotton (1660) Proverbs may not improperly be called the Philosophy of the Common Peeple, or, according to Aristotle, the truest Reliques of old Philosophy. 1694 R. South 12 Serm. II. 171 What is a Proverb, but the Experience and Observation of several Ages, gathered and summ'd up into one Expression? 1768 D. Garrick Let. 13 Sept. (1963) II. 626 We have a proverb that says—out of sight, out of mind; I fear it is so with him. 1792 H. H. Brackenridge Mod. Chivalry (1937) III. i. 11 It comes to the old proverb at last, Ne sutor ultra crepidam, Let the cobler stick to his last. 1832 E. C. Wines Two Years & Half in Amer. Navy (1833) II. 142 Let them act upon the principal of the old Spanish proverb, El que no sabe lo que es la guerra, que vaya a ver [note ‘He who is ignorant of what war is, let him become a soldier’]. 1850 H. Martineau Introd. Hist. Peace II. iv. xii. 159 Hence it was that those words..passed..into a proverb. 1871 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows 162 Sancho, with his stock of proverbs, the ready money of human experience. 1909 Chatterbox 166/2 The ‘saying’ referred to is not..a familiar proverb or an ancient adage. 1953 R. Davies Enthusiasms (1991) 33 There is a Welsh proverb which says ‘A spoon does not know the taste of soup, nor a learned fool the taste of wisdom’. 1992 Economist 4 Jan. 58/3 ‘Better to be in front of a chicken, than behind a pig’ goes a Taiwanese proverb. b. (the Book of) Proverbs n. a book of the Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures comprising several collections of maxims and instructive sayings in poetic form, attributed to Solomon or other authors. ΘΚΠ society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > Testament > Old Testament > divisions of Old Testament > [noun] > Proverbs (the Book of) Proverbsa1382 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1963) Kings Prol. 53 Þe þredde [part] is of Salamon, hafynge thre bookis, prouerbis þat þei clepyn parablys, þat is, Masloth; þe ferþe ecclesiasten..þe fifþe is song of songes. a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 11904 Salamon seyþ..Yn a boke of Prouerbyys. c1450 (a1400) R. Lavynham Treat. Seven Deadly Sins (Harl. 211) (1956) 14 (MED) It is alwey good to fle þe company of þe enuyous man, as Salomon consaylith in his bok of prouerbis. a1530 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfeccyon (1531) iii. f. CCxii^v Than shall it be veryfyed that Salomon sayth in his prouerbes. 1595 W. Burton Rowsing of Sluggard i. 9 Wherfore is she good, or what profite commeth by her,..that had neuer any leisure yet to peruse the Prouerbes of Salomon? 1659 H. Thorndike Epil. Trag. Church Eng. i. xxxi. 212 Ecclesiasticus..descants indeed upon Solomons plain song, in the VIII^th and IX^th of the Proverbs. 1699 Old Kirk Chron. 81 Three duzan Bybles..with some duzan Proverbs. a1732 T. Boston Crook in Lot (1805) 73 Solomon..fronts his writings, in the beginning of the Proverbs, with most express gospel. 1784 T. Holcroft Noble Peasant ii. iii. 33 Your discourse is such a mixture of sense and nonsense, that it is like reading the Proverbs of Solomon, interlined with the merry exploits of Jack the Giant-killer. 1859 Harper's Mag. Feb. 408/1 The aphoristic form is peculiar to the book of Proverbs alone. 1880 W. Newton Serm. for Boys & Girls (1881) 203 He turned to the third chapter of Proverbs and read it over. 1913 G. F. Moore Lit. Old Test. xxiii. 240 Job..belongs to the literature of Jewish Wisdom, with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. 1938 Jewish Q. Rev. 29 113 The memra was personified in Jewish religious thought as Wisdom had been personified in Proverbs. 2002 Black Music Res. Jrnl. 22 106 The dirijan recited a few verses from the book of Proverbs. †c. to a proverb: to an extent that has become proverbial; proverbially. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > [adverb] > much talked about > proverbially proverbially1653 to a proverb1743 a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xiii. f. 296^v The admirable prowes of Amphialus (by a contrarie) brought forth the remembrance of the cowardise of Clinias: in so much, as it grew almost to a prouerb. 1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (1 Cor. i. 26) Hence it grew to a Proverb.., That Hell was paved with Priests shaven crowns, and great mens head-pieces. 1660 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. III. iii. 13 Abdera a Town of Thrace, noted for the simplicity of the Inhabitants which grew even to a proverb. 1683 W. Kennett tr. Erasmus Witt against Wisdom 48 Who is so silly as to be Ignoramus to a Proverb? 1743 in A. D. Candler et al. Georgia Rec. (c1913–16) XXIII. 513 He had then recourse to his Usual Salve, (well known, to all persons at Savannah with whom he converses, even to a proverb) That He was Seventy Years of Age, His Memory decayed, etc. 1766 J. Fordyce Serm. Young Women II. xii. 271 That revengeful disposition, of which your sex have been accused even to a proverb. 1796 J. Morse Amer. Universal Geogr. (new ed.) I. Pref. 7 To depend on foreigners, partial, to a proverb, to their own country. 1817 J. Evans Excursion to Windsor 482 A country, swampy even to a proverb. 1865 E. C. Gaskell Cousin Phillis ii. 56 Our air here is good to a proverb. 1888 Times 21 Jan. 15/3 The fondness of the missel bird for the mistletoe was remarked on by the Romans, even to a proverb. 2. †a. A general term of contempt or reproach; (also) a person who or thing which is the object of scorn; = byword n. 2. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > [noun] > person or thing much talked about > that has become proverbial proverba1382 byword1535 fable1535 myth1853 the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > condition of being held in contempt > [noun] > state or quality of being contemptible > object of contempt > proverbially proverba1382 byword1535 by-talk1579 the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > [noun] > action of expressing contempt > vocally > a word of contempt proverb1535 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) 3 Kings ix. 7 Israel schal ben in to prouerbe [L. proverbium] & in to fable to alle peplis [1535 Coverd. shall be come a byworde and fabell amonge all nacions]. c1410 tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 109 Westsex men haveþ in proverbe [L. habent in proverbio] of hiȝe despite ‘hynderlyng’ whiche sowneþ i-cast doun fro honeste. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Hab. ii. B Shall not all these take vp a prouerbe agaynst him, and mocke him with a byworde? 1560 Bible (Geneva) Deut. xxviii. 37 And thou shalt be a wonder, a prouerbe & a commune talke among all people. 1662 W. Austin Triumphus Hymenæus sig. H^v/1 Aphetoriae opes..is used as a proverb for abundance of wealth. 1680 Bp. G. Burnet Some Passages Life Earl of Rochester 173 One of the Glories of his Age was become a Proverb. 1757 J. Wesley Let. 19 Sept. (1931) III. 226 God never used us to any purpose till we were a proverb of reproach. 1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1776 II. 73 [Johnson:] He should take care not to be made a proverb. 1794 S. T. Coleridge Coll. Lett. (1956) I. 67 I became a proverb to the University for Idleness—the time which I should have bestowed on the academic studies, I employed in dreaming out wild Schemes of impossible extrication. a1859 W. C. Roscoe Poems (1860) v. iv. 204 Build up the copestone of my ignominy, And make my name a proverb of contempt. b. A thing that is proverbial or commonly known. Now rare. ΚΠ 1675 R. Ferguson Interest of Reason in Relig. 133 The Platonick and Pythagorick numbers grew into a proverb for their Darkness. 1707 J. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) i. iii. 10 Buckinghamshire Bread and Beef is a Proverb for their Goodness. 1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 509. ⁋8 Mr. Hobson,..when a Man came for a Horse,..obliged him to take the Horse which stood next to the Stable-Door... From whence it became a Proverb..to say ‘Hobson's Choice’. 1771 C. Powys Passages from Diaries Mrs. Powys (1899) 138 This daughter..I've long known by name, being almost a proverb for plainness. 1847 P. H. Gosse & R. Hill Birds of Jamaica 47 The Potoo has become a proverb of ugliness. 1854 J. H. Newman Lect. Hist. Turks ii. i. 72 Siberia goes for a proverb for cold: India is a proverb for heat. 1876 in Ld. Houghton Poet. Wks. 17 The repute of Tempe as a proverb of surpassing beauty, is exclusively Roman. 1976 Times 10 Jan. 6/2 The White Clown stands forth in the parade, his limp arms dangling down his white casaque, his feet turned outwards, a proverb of naivity. †3. A mysterious or ambiguous saying that requires interpretation; an allegory, a parable. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > figure of speech > figures of meaning > [noun] > allegory > an allegory likenessc1175 parablec1250 proverbc1384 similitudea1425 allegoryc1450 semblable1547 allusion1548 mythology1603 parabolic1829 c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) John xvi. 25 I haue spokun to ȝou thes thingis in prouerbis [L. proverbiis], or derke saumplis; the our cometh whanne now I schal not speke to ȝou in prouerbis [L. proverbiis], but opynly. ?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 99^v A Proverbe, parabola. 1526 Bible (Tyndale) John xvi. f. cxlv^v His disciples sayd vnto hym: loo nowe speakest thou playnly, and thou vsest no proverbe. 1611 Bible (King James) Prov. i. 6 To vnderstand a prouerbe, and the interpretation; the wordes of the wise, and their darke sayings. View more context for this quotation 1787 G. Gregory tr. R. Lowth Lect. Sacred Poetry Hebrews II. 172 Some obscurity succeeds, when the principal, or perhaps the whole force of a proverb or parable, does not lie in the direct and literal sense. 1841 R. C. Trench Parables (1877) i. 7 Those are called ‘proverbs’ in St. John, which, if not strictly parables, yet claim much closer affinity to the parable than to the proverb, being in fact allegories. 4. A play, esp. a French play, which uses a proverb as the foundation of the plot. Now chiefly historical. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > other types of play king play1469 king game1504 historya1509 chronicle history1600 monology1608 horseplaya1627 piscatory1631 stock play1708 petite pièce1712 mimic1724 ballad opera1730 ballad farce1735 benefit-play1740 potboiler1783 monodrama1793 extravaganza1797 theo-drama1801 monodrame1803 proverb1803 stock piece1804 bespeak1807 ticket-night1812 dramaticle1813 monopolylogue1819 pièce d'occasion1830 interlude1831 mimea1834 costume piece1834 mummers' play1849 history play1850 gag-piece1860 music drama1874 well-made1881 playlet1884 two-decker1884 slum1885 kinderspiel1886 thrill1886 knockabout1887 two-hander1888 front-piece1889 thriller1889 shadow-play1890 mime play1894 problem play1894 one-acter1895 sex play1899 chronicle drama1902 thesis-play1902 star vehicle1904 folk-play1905 radio play1908 tab1915 spy play1919 one-act1920 pièce à thèse1923 dance-drama1924 a mess of plottage1926 turkey1927 weepie1928 musical1930 cliffhanger1931 mime drama1931 triangle drama1931 weeper1934 spine-chiller1940 starrer1941 scorcher1942 teleplay1947 straw-hatter1949 pièce noire1951 pièce rose1951 tab show1951 conversation piece1952 psychodrama1956 whydunit1968 mystery play1975 State of the Nation1980 1803 B. Greatheed Jrnl. 22 Jan. (1953) iii. 34 There you see half a dozen farces or proverbs of a night, smartly playd, particularly by Brunet who is a very good actor. 1842 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art 994/1 Proverb..In dramatic literature..the term has been applied to short pieces, in which some proverb or popular saying is taken as the foundation of the plot... Carmantelli was the most successful writer of proverbs at the time of their highest popularity. 1879 J. Knight in Athenæum 28 June [With reference to the Comédie Française, then in England] The comedies or the proverbs of Musset meanwhile defy the translator, and their representation calls for a class of acting of which our stage knows nothing. 1893 Nation (N.Y.) 20 July 50/3 She [sc. Comtesse de Chambrun]..was fond of acting in her own private theatre... Sometimes she wrote a ‘proverb’ herself, and created the principal part. 1929 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 7 Mar. (Mag. section) 1/3 The second offering is a proverb in one act. 1974 French Rev. 48 390 For advanced students, it is even possible to return to one form of the dramatic proverb, by having them prepare a skit exemplifying a proverb. 2000 P. Gethner in A. R. Larsen & C. H. Winn Revolutionary French Women xix. 377 A dramatic proverb is a playlet, usually comic.., that illustrates a well-known proverb without using that proverb in the text. 5. In plural. A name for various games played with proverbs or popular sayings, esp. one in which a proverb is to be guessed by asking questions of a circle of players, whose answers must introduce in order each word of it. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > parlour and party games > [noun] > guessing game > specific what's my thought like?1748 twenty questions1786 charade1826 how, when, and where1843 proverbs1855 hy-spy1876 game1937 I spy (with my little eye)1946 1738 Gentleman's Mag. Feb. 80/2 With King James the 1st, and the Scottish Nation, was introduced the acting of Proverbs and Games of Dumb-shew.] 1855 Home Games for People 104 Proverbs. One of the party is sent out of the room: the rest busying themselves with thinking of a proverb..to be discovered by him on his return. 1867 ‘Aunt Carrie’ Pop. Pastimes for Field & Fireside 188 Proverbs. The company select some one to leave the room; those remaining agree upon a proverb [etc.]. 1879 ‘L. Hoffmann’ Drawing-room Amusem. ii. 50 Proverbs. This is another ‘guessing’ game. 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 236/3 Proverbs. The old standard game revised, consisting of 100 cards containing the best proverbs. 1910 W. Owen Let. 27 Dec. (1967) 66 We have been playing games (e.g. Proverbs, Memory Tray, etc.) this evening. 1975 Way to Play 257/2 Proverbs... It is sometimes called hidden proverbs, or guessing proverbs. 1984 T. Augarde Oxf. Guide Word Games iii. 28 Proverbs is not normally an acting game, although E. M. Baker in Indoor Games (1912) describes an acted form of it. Compounds General attributive and objective. proverb card n. ΚΠ 1708 O. Dykes Moral Reflexions Eng. Prov. 274 A Pack of Proverb-Cards, lately printed, and curiously engrav'd with Figures. 1893 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 6 220 The Iroha, or Proverb cards, also consist of ninety-six cards. 1966 S. Mann Collecting Playing Cards vii. 141 Proverb Cards, containing pleasant Devices, suited to the most witty English Proverbs. Made c. 1700. 1998 Asahi Shimbun (Japan) (Nexis) 28 Mar. As the proverb cards are randomly read, the players must spot and quickly seize the matching ‘taking’ card. proverb-hunting n. ΚΠ 1902 F. E. Hulme Proverb-lore 89 Proverb-hunting is a very pleasant recreation. 1952 Shakespeare Q. 3 263 I know too well the sinister effect of proverb-hunting upon mental equilibrium. 1998 T. M. Krier Refiguring Chaucer in Renaissance i. 11 Speght's proverb hunting poses a difficulty. proverb-monger n. ΚΠ 1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. D^v Without the consent of some great prouerb-monger. 1679 R. Barclay Apol. True Christian Divinity xvii. 187 By coining this it seems he affects to be a Proverb-monger. ?1769 C. H. Wilmot tr. M. de Cervantes Saavedra Hist. Renowned Don Quixote II. 214 ‘Hold, thou confounded proverb-monger!’ said the knight. 1857 M. Gatty Legendary Tales (1858) 4 A genuine proverb-monger—he who chills off your enthusiasm by a tame truism. 2004 Aberdeen (Scotl.) Press & Jrnl. (Nexis) 6 Sept. 4 Like a Chinese proverb-monger, the Royal Bank of Scotland says the North Sea is at an ‘interesting stage’ for oil & gas players and money providers alike. proverb wisdom n. ΚΠ 1902 F. E. Hulme Proverb-lore 229 Wealth has its store of proverb-wisdom even in more abundance than poverty has. 2005 M. K. Asante & A. Mazama Encycl. Black Stud. 138/1 Dialectics on oral traditions, proverb wisdom, spirituals, and the Luo concept of time. Derivatives ˈproverb-like adj. and adv. ΚΠ c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme xliv. 53 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 36 Prouerb-like our name is worne. 1612 T. Wilson Christian Dict. 102 [It] makes the whole expression much sweeter, and proverb-like in the original Heb[rew]. 1891 Old & New Test. Student 13 35 The truth of the superscription that makes Solomon the author of this psalm, is confirmed by the many figures in it drawn from nature..and by its proverb-like movement. 1993 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 16 Dec. 70 (advt.) Willis Barnstone offers humorous proverb-like poems that combine playful use of paradox with everyday images and sudden insights. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022). proverbv. Brit. /ˈprɒvəːb/, U.S. /ˈprɑˌvərb/ Forms: see proverb n. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: proverb n. Etymology: < proverb n. Compare post-classical Latin proverbiari to speak forth, declare (11th cent.), to speak in proverbs (12th cent.). 1. transitive. To utter in the form of a proverb; to speak of proverbially; to make a byword of. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > proverb > utter or describe proverbially [verb (transitive)] proverba1425 proverbize1605 the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > infamy or notoriety > make infamous [verb (transitive)] > proverbially proverb1671 a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) iii. 293 Thise wise clerkes that ben dede Han evere..proverbed to us yonge That ‘firste vertu is to kepe tonge’. 1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. E You haue most learnedly prouerbde it, commending the vertue of patience or forbearance. 1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 203 Am I not sung and proverbd for a Fool In every street..? View more context for this quotation 1711 C. Brent Ess. concerning Nature & Guilt of Lying 186 He shall be sensible that he is become discredited, and Proverbed for a Lyar. 1799 S. Turner Hist. Anglo-Saxons I. 39 He has been proverbed for his fidelity. 1823 I. D'Israeli Curiosities of Lit. 2nd Ser. I. 457 Nations proverb each other; counties flout counties. 1841 Ld. J. Manners England's Trust ii. 64 One short month should hear his dastard name Proverbed as emblem of disgrace and shame. 1857 O. B. Bunce Love in '76 i. 7 Oh, sir, if staleness went to make their age, they would be proverbed instead of Methuselah. 1915 Washington Post 25 June 8/4 Some wiseacre, probably when baseball was in its infancy, proverbed something regarding every dog having its day. 1995 J. H. Lamb Rhetoric of Suffering ii. 39 Like Samson, he is sung and proverbed: ‘And now I am their song, yea, I am their by-word’. 2. transitive (in passive). To be provided with a proverb; to be quoted a proverb as a reproach. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > proverb > utter or describe proverbially [verb (transitive)] > provide with a proverb proverb1597 1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. iv. 37 I am prouerbd with a Grandsire phrase, Ile be a candleholder and looke on. View more context for this quotation 1885 P. Holdsworth Station Hunting on Warrego 16 I am proverbed with tauntings by fools, and contemned as unclean by the just. 1997 R. P. Honeck Prov. in Mind 83 ‘Dad, I know I should have put the car in the garage but I was busy,’ said by a teenager who got proverbed with ‘A stitch’ after the car was hit while parked in the street. 3. intransitive. To utter or compose proverbs. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > proverb > compose or utter proverbs [verb (intransitive)] proverb1649 proverbialize1777 1649 [see proverbing n. at Derivatives]. 1956 Nevada State Jrnl. 18 July 8/8 White is probably proverbing to himself today as he breathes the air of freedom. Derivatives † proverbed adj. Obsolete ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > proverb > [adjective] proverbial?a1475 paroemial1652 proverbed1788 paroemiac1820 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > proverb > [adjective] > furnished with proverbs proverbed1788 1788 R. Burns Let. 2 Aug. (2001) I. 260 Unlike sage, proverb'd Wisdom's hard-wrung boon. 1845 S. Turner Richard III Pref. 8 A regular story, corresponding with this proverbed King's real story, or rather biography. ˈproverbing n. rare ΚΠ 1649 J. Milton Observations in Articles of Peace with Irish Rebels 64 All thir paines tak'n to seem so wise in proverbing, serves but to conclude them down right slaves. 1992 L. Haring Verbal Arts in Madagascar i. 33 Riddling, proverbing, exchanging hainteny, and formal speechmaking are all games in the formal sense defined by Brian Sutton-Smith. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022). > as lemmas pro-verb pro-verb n. Brit. /ˈprəʊvəːb/ , U.S. /ˈproʊˌvərb/ ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [noun] > other specific types of verb vocative verbc1414 activec1450 passivec1450 substantive verba1475 neuter1530 gesture1612 nominal1666 quiescent1720 reduplicative1756 dative verb1844 factitive1845 preterite-present1859 compound verb1863 pro-verb1868 preterito-presentia1870 preteritive present1872 action verb1877 verbid1914 inversive1931 eventive1946 hypothetical1957 non-factive1970 commonization1973 contrafactive1985 1868 S. Kerl Common School Gram. Eng. Lang. 150 Do is sometimes thus used as a sort of pro-verb to represent an active verb or a phrase. 1907 J. M. Grainger Stud. King James Bible 19 Do is sometimes used as a pro-verb, to avoid repetition of an antecedent verb. 1992 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics 37 52 All other verbs presuppose be and almost all other verbs are hyponyms of do, as can be seen by the use of do as a pro-verb. extracted from pro-prefix¹ < n.c1375v.a1425 as lemmas
随便看	to take the road to take the road of to take the rough and the smooth to take the rough with the smooth to take the rue to take the rust to take the rust off to take the say to take the scenic route to take the scent to take the sea to take the sense of to take the shilling to take the shine out of to take the shine out of less frequently from to take the shine out of less frequently us off to take the side of to take the skin off a person's back to take the soil to take the soup to take the speech to take the stage to take the stand to take the starch out of to take the start

proverbn.

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proverbv.

Derivatives

> as lemmas