Middle English Dictionary Entry
bī-wǒrd n.
Entry Info
| Forms | bī-wǒrd n. |
| Etymology | Modeled on L prō-verbium. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
A proverb or saying.
Associated quotations
- a1131 Peterb.Chron.(LdMisc 636)an.1130 : Man seið to biworde: hæge sitteð þa aceres dæleth.
- a1400 Ancr.Recl.(Pep 2498)25/8 : Men seien abywoorde: þe hounde wil jn þere he fyndeþ open.
- a1425(c1385) Chaucer TC (Benson-Robinson)4.769 : For which ful ofte a by-word here I seye, That 'rooteles moot grene soone deye'.
- c1450(c1405) Mum & S.(2) (Add 41666)1575 : Bringeth a bitter byworde a-brode among þe peuple, And is in euery cuntre but a comune tale.
- c1460(?c1400) Beryn (Nthld 55)2243 : Þere is a comyn byword..'Wele settith he his peny þat þe pound [therby] savith'.
- 1543(1464) Hardyng Chron.B (Grafton)p.222 : For whome then was..A greate biworde.