proverb
       n : a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important
           fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
           [syn: adage, saw, byword]
  Proverb
     a trite maxim; a similitude; a parable. The Hebrew word thus
     rendered (mashal) has a wide signification. It comes from a root
     meaning "to be like," "parable." Rendered "proverb" in Isa.
     14:4; Hab. 2:6; "dark saying" in Ps. 49:4, Num. 12:8. Ahab's
     defiant words in answer to the insolent demands of Benhadad,
     "Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he
     that putteth it off," is a well known instance of a proverbial
     saying (1 Kings 20:11).