byword
pronunciation
How to pronounce byword in British English:
UK [ˈbaɪwɜːd]
How to pronounce byword in American English:
US [ˈbaɪwɜːrd]
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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
- byword (n.)
- also by-word, Old English biword "proverb," formed on the model of Latin proverbium or Greek parabole. Meaning "something that has become proverbial" is from 1530s.
Example
- 1. It has become a byword for spiralling costs and delays .
- 2. Sadly , colombia 's capital now risks becoming a byword again , this time for municipal mismanagement .
- 3. At home and abroad china is a byword for fast-track development where yesterday 's paddy field is tomorrow 's factory highway or hotel .
- 4. Sure , they are desperate for " change " : with the economy reeling , politics gridlocked , young people dying in iraq and the bush administration a global byword for callous incompetence , huge numbers of americans have long believed their country is on the wrong track .