adage
pronunciation
How to pronounce adage in British English:
UK [ˈædɪdʒ]
How to pronounce adage in American English:
US [ˈædɪdʒ]
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- Noun:
- a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
Word Origin
- adage
- adage: [16] Adage was borrowed, via French, from Latin adagium ‘maxim, proverb’. This seems to have been formed from a variant of aio ‘I say’ plus the prefīx ad- ‘to’. In the 16th and 17th centuries an alternative version, adagy, existed.
- adage (n.)
- "brief, familiar proverb," 1540s, Middle French adage, from Latin adagium "adage, proverb," apparently from adagio, from ad- "to" (see ad-) + *agi-, root of aio "I say," from PIE *ag- "to speak." But Tucker thinks the second element is rather ago "set in motion, drive, urge."
Example
- 1. This adage counts for being funny as much as for confidence .
- 2. The old adage is if they are laughing they are listening .
- 3. Better to be lucky than good , the adage goes .
- 4. One can only hope that the " don 't shoot the messenger " adage is still popular in the international community .
- 5. This is a confusing adage .