maxim
/ˈmaksɪm
/noun
A short, pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct: the maxim that actions speak louder than words...
- The general maxim is that it is better for ten guilty men to go free than punish an innocent, and so we should oppose this change.
- Perhaps, the gist of it all could be summed up in the old maxim that truth is stranger than fiction.
- And the loveable curmudgeon is responsible for most of literature's best quotations, maxims and aphorisms.
Synonyms
saying, adage, aphorism, proverb, motto, saw, axiom, dictum, precept, epigram;
catchphrase, slogan, byword, watchword;
truism, platitude, cliché;
French bon mot
rare apophthegm
Origin
Late Middle English (denoting an axiom): from French maxime, from medieval Latin (propositio) maxima 'largest or most important (proposition)'.