: a saying often in metaphorical form that typically embodies a common observation She reminded him of the adage : "A penny saved is a penny earned."

: a saying often in metaphorical form that typically embodies a common observation She reminded him of the adage : "A penny saved is a penny earned."

: a saying often in metaphorical form that typically embodies a common observation She reminded him of the adage : "A penny saved is a penny earned."

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'adage.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback .

The adage is that respect is earned, and there is much truth to this in life and sports, especially football.

It's been said that three is the magic number, and that adage certainly holds weight in the dance world.

More than any other season in memory, the show biz adage applies in 2020-'21: Titles and dates are subject to change.

Think of the old adage about folding paper, which becomes impossible quickly for a normal sheet of printer paper.

History and Etymology for adage

borrowed from Middle French, borrowed from Latin adagiō, adagium, from ad- ad- + ag-, base of aiō, āiō "(I) say" (going back to *ag-i̯ō, going back to an Indo-European verb stem *h 2 eǵ-i̯e- "say") + -ium, deverbal noun suffix; akin to Greek ê "(s/he) spoke," án-ōga "(I) command," Armenian asem "(I) say," Tocharian B āks- "announce, proclaim"

Note: The Latin form is possibly adāgiō; the lack of vowel reduction in the second syllable is otherwise unexplained. Michiel de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin (Brill, 2008), believes that the base is not aiō, but rather adigō, "I drive/thrust/plunge into, force, impel." Semantically, this is not compelling, and does not in any case solve the problem of the second syllable. On the other hand, the lack of attestation for aiō with any prefixes aside from this noun is striking.