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Adage - 5 dictionary results

ad⋅age

  [ad-ij]
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–noun
a traditional saying expressing a common experience or observation; proverb.
Origin:
1540–50; < F < L adagium, equiv. to ad- ad- + ag- (s. of āio I say) + -ium -ium

Related forms:
a⋅da⋅gi⋅al  [uh-dey-jee-uhl] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ad·age   (ād'ĭj)   
n.  A saying that sets forth a general truth and that has gained credit through long use. See Synonyms at saying. See Usage Note at redundancy.

[French, from Old French, from Latin adagium.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Adage

Ad"age\, n. [F. adage, fr. L. adagium; ad + the root of L. aio I say.] An old saying, which has obtained credit by long use; a proverb.

Letting "I dare not" wait upon "I would," Like the poor cat i' the adage. --Shak.

Syn: Axiom; maxim; aphorism; proverb; saying; saw; apothegm. See Axiom.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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adage 
1548, from L. adagium "adage, proverb," apparently from adagio, from ad- "to" + *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."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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adage

a saying, often in metaphoric form, that embodies a common observation, such as "If the shoe fits, wear it,'' "Out of the frying pan, into the fire,'' or "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.'' The scholar Erasmus published a well-known collection of adages as Adagia in 1508. The word is from the Latin adagium, "proverb."

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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