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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Proverb \Prov"erb\, noun [OE. proverbe, F. proverbe, from L. proverbium; pro before, for + verbum a word. See {Verb}.]
1. An old and common saying; a phrase which is often repeated; especially, a sentence which briefly and forcibly expresses some practical truth, or the result of experience and observation; a maxim; a saw; an adage. --Chaucer. Bacon.
2. A striking or paradoxical assertion; an obscure saying; an enigma; a parable.
His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. --John xvi. 29.
3. A familiar illustration; a subject of contemptuous reference.
Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by word, among all nations. --Deut. xxviii. 37.
4. A drama exemplifying a proverb.
{Book of Proverbs}, a canonical book of the Old Testament, containing a great variety of wise maxims.
Syn: Maxim; aphorism; apothegm; adage; saw.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Proverb \Prov"erb\, verb (used with an object)
1. To name in, or as, a proverb. [R.]
Am I not sung and proverbed for a fool ? --Milton.
2. To provide with a proverb. [R.]
I am proverbed with a grandsire phrase. --Shak.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Proverb \Prov"erb\, verb (used without an object) To write or utter proverbs. [R.]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
proverb
noun: a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people [syn: {adage}, {saw}, {byword}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
52 Moby Thesaurus words for "proverb": adage, ana, analects, aphorism, apophthegm, apothegm, axiom, bromide, byword, catchword, cliche, coin a phrase, collected sayings, commonplace, current saying, dictate, dictum, distich, epigram, expression, gnome, golden saying, homily, maxim, moral, mot, motto, oracle, phrase, pithy saying, platitude, precept, prescript, proverbial saying, proverbs, saw, saying, sentence, sententious expression, sloka, stock saying, sutra, teaching, text, truism, verse, wisdom, wisdom literature, wise saying, witticism, word, words of wisdom
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Proverb a trite maxim; a similitude; a parable. The Hebrew word thus rendered (mashal) has a wide signification. It comes from a root meaning "to be like," "parable." Rendered "proverb" in Isa. 14:4; Hab. 2:6; "dark saying" in Ps. 49:4, Num. 12:8. Ahab's defiant words in answer to the insolent demands of Benhadad, "Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off," is a well known instance of a proverbial saying (1 Kings 20:11).
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