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▪ I. proverb, n.|ˈprɒvɜːb|
Also 4–7 proverbe.
[ME. a. F. proverbe (12th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. L. prōverbium an old saying, adage, proverb, in late L. also a byword, f. prō, pro-1 1 + verb-um word + -ium, collective suffix, hence app. ‘a (recognized) set of words put forth’; cf. adāgium adage.]
1. a. A short pithy saying in common and recognized use; a concise sentence, often metaphorical or alliterative in form, which is held to express some truth ascertained by experience or observation and familiar to all; an adage, a wise saw.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 250 (299) Prouerbes kanst þi self I-now and woost Aȝens þat vice. 1382Wyclif Ezek. xvi. 44 Loo! eche man that seith euery where..a prouerbe in thee shal take it to..As the modir, so and hir douȝter. 1481Caxton Reynard iv. (Arb.) 7 It is a comyn prouerbe, An Enemyes mouth saith seeld wel. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 122 What neede I heape all these together, seeyng Heiwoddes Prouerbes are in Printe? 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) 47 As the Prouerbe in Englande is, Set a Knaue on horsebacke, and you shall see him shoulder a Knight. 1601J. Wheeler Treat. Comm. 58 For it is merry in Hall, where beards wagge all, according to that olde right English Prouerbe of our Ancestours. 1659Howell Lexicon, Proverbs a iv, Proverbs may not improperly be called the Philosophy of the Common Peeple, or, according to Aristotle, the truest Reliques of old Philosophy. a1716South Serm. (1823) I. 437 What is a proverb, but the experience and observation of several ages, gathered and summed up into one expression? 1840–1Wright & Halliwell (title) The Proverbs of King Alfred. 1850H. Martineau Hist. Peace II. iv. xii. 159 Hence it was that those words..passed..into a proverb. 1870Lowell Study Wind. 162 Sambo, with his stock of proverbs, the ready money of human experience.
b. spec. the Book of Proverbs, a didactic poetical book of the Old Testament, consisting of maxims ascribed to Solomon and other authors.
1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 11904 Salamon seyþ, þat ys wys, Yn a boke of Prouerbyys. 1390Gower Conf. III. 48 Of Salomon and the proverbes, Of Macer al the strengthe of herbes. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 212 b, Than shall it be veryfyed that Salomon sayth in his prouerbes. 1635R. Bolton Comf. Affl. Consc. i. 14 This Book of Proverbs is compared to a great heape of gold rings rich and orient severally; and every one shining with a distinct sense by itselfe. 1880W. W. Newton Serm. Boys & Girls (1881) 203 He turned to the third chapter of Proverbs and read it over.
c. Phr. to a proverb, to an extent that has become proverbial; proverbially.
1743in A. D. Candler et al. Georgia Rec. (c 1913–16) 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. 1766Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wom. (1767) II. xiii. 231 That revengeful disposition, of which your sex have been accused even to a proverb. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. Pref. 7 To depend on foreigners, partial, to a proverb, to their own country. 1817J. Evans Excurs. Windsor, etc. 482 A country, swampy even to a proverb. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. viii. II. 275 The new chief justice, Sir Robert Wright, was ignorant to a proverb.
2. a. A common word or phrase of contempt or reproach, a byword; † hence transf. a person or thing to which such a phrase is applied: = byword 2 (obs.).
1382Wyclif 1 Kings ix. 7 And Irael shal be into prouerbe and into fable, to alle puplis [1535 Coverd. shall be come a byworde and fabell amonge all nacions]. 1535Coverdale Hab. ii. 6 Shall not all these take vp a prouerbe agaynst him, and mocke him with a byworde..? 1560Bible (Genev.) Deut. xxviii. 37 And thou shalt be a wonder, a prouerbe & a commune talke among all people. 1680Burnet Rochester 173 One of the Glories of his Age was become a Proverb. 1791Boswell Johnson (1851) III. 34 He should take care not to be made a proverb.
b. transf. A thing that is proverbial or a matter of common talk.
1655Stanley Hist. Philos. II. iii. 13 Abdera a Town of Thrace, noted for the simplicity of the Inhabitants which grew even to a proverb. 1707E. Chamberlayne Pres. St. Eng. i. iii. (ed. 22) 10 Buckinghamshire Bread and Beef is a Proverb for their Goodness. 1712Steele Spect. 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’. 1853J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. i. ii. 61 Siberia goes for a proverb for cold: India is a proverb for heat. 1855Bain Senses & Int. iii. iv. §21 (1864) 212 The mental absorption of Archimedes is a proverb.
†3. An oracular or enigmatical saying that requires interpretation; an allegory, a parable. Obs.
1382Wyclif John xvi. 25, I haue spokun to ȝou thes thingis in prouerbis [gloss or derke saumplis]; the our cometh, whanne now I schal not speke to ȝou in prouerbis, but opynly. 1526Tindale ibid. 29 His disciples sayd vnto hym: loo nowe speakest thou playnly, and thou vsest no proverbe. 1611Bible Prov. i. 6 To vnderstand a prouerbe, and the interpretation; the wordes of the wise, and their darke sayings. 1841Trench Parables i. (1877) 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 of which a proverb is taken as the foundation of the plot. Called in French proverbe; in Eng. chiefly used of French plays so called.
1842Brande Dict. Sci., etc. 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. 1879J. Knight in Athenæum 28 June, [in 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. 1893Nation (N.Y.) 20 July 50/3 She [Comtesse de Chambrun]..was fond of acting in her own private theatre... Sometimes she wrote a ‘proverb’ herself, and created the principal part.
5. pl. A name for various round games played with proverbs or popular sayings.
A common form is the guessing of such a saying by asking questions of the circle of players, whose answers must introduce in order each word of the proverb.
1855Home 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’ Popular 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 Amusements & Evening Party Entertainments ii. 50 Proverbs. This is another ‘guessing’ game. 1895Montgomery Ward & Co. Catal. Spring & Summer 236/3 Proverbs. The old standard game revised, consisting of 100 cards containing the best proverbs. 1910W. Owen Let. 27 Dec. (1967) 66 We have been playing games (e.g. Proverbs, Memory Tray, etc.) this evening. 1975Way to Play 257/2 Proverbs... It is sometimes called hidden proverbs, or guessing proverbs.
6. attrib. and Comb., as proverb-card, proverb-hunting, proverb-monger, proverb-wisdom; proverb-like adj. and adv.
c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. xliv. vii, Proverb-like our name is worn. 1709O. Dykes Eng. Prov. & Refl. (ed. 2) 274 A Pack of Proverb-Cards, lately printed, and curiously engrav'd with Figures. 1857Mrs. Gatty Leg. Tales (1858) 4 A genuine proverb-monger—he who chills off your enthusiasm by a tame truism. 1902F. E. Hulme Proverb-Lore 89 Proverb-hunting is a very pleasant recreation. 1966S. Mann Collecting Playing Cards vii. 141 Proverb Cards, containing pleasant Devices, suited to the most witty English Proverbs. Made c. 1700... The value is indicated by a single suit-mark at top right. 1977Jrnl. Playing-Card Soc. Nov. 44 There seem to be two packs of Proverb cards that could conceivably be the one referred to by Lenthall.
▪ II. proverb, v.|ˈprɒvɜːb|
[f. prec. n.; cf. med.L. prōverbi-ārī, It. proverbiare to speak in proverbs.]
1. trans. To utter in the form of a proverb; to speak of proverbially; to make a byword of.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iii. 244 (293) Þis wise clerkes that ben dede han euere this prouerbed to vs ȝong. 1599Porter Angry Wom. Abingd. (Percy Soc.) 41 You haue most learnedly prouerbed it, commending the vertue of patience or forbearance. 1671Milton Samson 203 Am I not sung and proverbd for a Fool In every street? 1791–1823D'Israeli Cur. Lit., Philos. Proverbs, Nations proverb each other; counties flout counties. 1841Ld. J. Manners Eng. Trust ii. 64 One short month should hear his dastard name Proverbed as emblem of disgrace and shame.
2. To furnish or provide with a proverb. rare.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iv. 37, I am prouerb'd with a Grandsier Phrase, Ile be a Candle-holder and looke on.
3. intr. To utter or compose proverbs. rare.
1648Milton Observ. Art. Peace Wks. 1851 IV. 580 All thir pains tak'n to seem so wise in proverbing, serves but to conclude them downright Slaves.
Hence ˈproverbed ppl. a.
1788Burns Let. to Mrs. Dunlop 2 Aug., Unlike sage proverb'd wisdom's hard-wrung boon. 1845S. Turner Rich. III, Pref. 8 A regular story, corresponding with this proverbed King's real story, or rather biography. |