Meanings
plural bywords
- A proverb or proverbial expression, common saying; a frequently used word or phrase.
- A characteristic word or expression; a word or phrase associated with a person or group.
- Someone or something that stands as an example (i.e. metonymically) for something else, by having some of that something's characteristic traits.
Illustrious unfortunates attract a wider sympathy, not because their griefs are more intense, but because, being set on lofty pedestals, they the better serve mankind as instances and bywords of calamity.
1846, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Christmas Banquet”, in Mosses from an Old Manse - An object of notoriety or contempt, scorn or derision.
He hath made me also a byword of the people […]
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 17:61 more example
"I know you and Harry are inseparable. Surely for that reason, if for none other, you should not have made his sister's name a by-word."
1890, Oscar Wilde, chapter XII, in The Picture of Dorian Gray
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-West Germanic*bīwurdī
- Old Englishbīword
- Middle Englishbyword
- Englishbyword
From Middle English byword, byworde (“proverb”), from Old English bīword, bīwyrd, bīwyrde (“proverb, household word", also "adverb”), from Proto-West Germanic *bīwurdī, equivalent to by- + word. Compare Latin proverbium, which byword may possibly be a translation of. Cognate with Old High German pīwurti (“proverb”). Compare also Old English bīspel (“proverb, example”), bīcwide (“byword, proverb, tale, fable”), Dutch bijwoord (“adverb”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian погово́рка
- погово́рка (pogovórka)a proverb
Chinese Mandarin 格言, 民諺 /民谚
- 格言 (géyán)a proverb
- 民諺 /民谚 (mínyàn)a proverb
Danish ordsprog, talemåde
- ordsproga proverb
- talemådea proverb
Dutch spreekwoord, spotnaam
- spreekwoorda proverb
- spotnaamsomeone who stands for something else
Estonian vanasõna, isiksus
- vanasõnaa proverb
- isiksussomeone who stands for something else
Finnish sanonta
- sanontaa proverb
French proverbe
- proverbea proverb
German Sprichwort
- Sprichworta proverb
Icelandic málsháttur, máltæki
- málsháttura proverb
- máltækia proverb
Italian proverbio
- proverbioa proverb
Japanese ことわざ, 諺
- ことわざ (kotowaza)a proverb
- 諺 (kotowaza)a proverb
Korean 속담
- 속담 (sokdam)a proverb
Māori pepeha, mūrau
- pepehaa proverb
- mūrausomeone who stands for something else
Polish dewiza, ucieleśnienie
- dewizaa proverb
- ucieleśnieniesomeone who stands for something else
Portuguese dito
- ditoa proverb
Russian погово́рка, при́тча во язы́цех
- погово́рка (pogovórka)a proverb
- при́тча во язы́цех (prítča vo jazýcex)a proverb
- прибау́тка (pribaútka)a proverb
- олицетворение (olicetvorenije)someone who stands for something else
Spanish refrán, proverbio
- refrána proverb
- proverbioa proverb
- estribilloa proverb
Swedish ordspråk, ordstäv
- ordspråka proverb
- ordstäva proverb
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
byword. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/byword
“byword.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/byword. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “byword,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/byword.
Source: byword on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.