byword
UK /ˈbaɪ.wə(ɹ)d/ · US /ˈbaɪ.wɚd/ noun
Forms bywords
- noun A proverb or proverbial expression, common saying; a frequently used word or phrase.
- noun A characteristic word or expression; a word or phrase associated with a person or group.
- noun Someone or something that stands as an example (i.e. metonymically) for something else, by having some of that something's characteristic traits.
- noun An object of notoriety or contempt, scorn or derision.
- noun A nickname or epithet.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English byword, byworde (“proverb”), from Old English bīword, bīwyrd, bīwyrde (“proverb, household word", also "adverb”), from Proto-West Germanic *bīwurdī, equivalent to by- + word. Compare Latin proverbium, which byword may possibly be a translation of. Cognate with Old High German pīwurti (“proverb”). Compare also Old English bīspel (“proverb, example”), bīcwide (“byword, proverb, tale, fable”), Dutch bijwoord (“adverb”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A common saying; a proverb; a saying that has a general currency.
- noun The object of a contemptuous saying.
Etymology [AS.bïword; bï, E.by+word.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “byword”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details