Category:Byword

By"word`, n. Etym: [AS.bïword; bï, E.by+word.]

1. A common saying; a proverb; a saying that has a general currency. I knew a wise man that had it for a byword. Bacon.

2. The object of a contemptuous saying. Thou makest us a byword among the heathen. Ps. xliv. 14