- a variation of apothegm.
apophthegm
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of apophthegm
C16: from Greek apophthegma, from apophthengesthai to speak one's opinion frankly, from phthengesthai to speak
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil there is an apophthegm to the effect that, "Insanity in individuals is something rare—but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule."
From A Poor Man's House by Reynolds, Stephen Sydney
Dr. Johnson would have laboured this short apophthegm into a voluminous common-place.
From Lectures on the English Poets Delivered at the Surrey Institution by Waller, Alfred Rayney
On literary réclame, he says much that is true—if not the whole truth, in the apophthegm for instance, 'You have to become famous before you can secure the attention which would give fame.'
From The House of Cobwebs and Other Stories by Gissing, George
A proverb is distinguished from a maxim or an apophthegm by that brevity which condenses a thought or a metaphor, where one thing is said and another is to be applied.
From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 by Disraeli, Isaac
On this subject a remarkable apophthegm is recorded by Plutarch; It is impossible, said Cato, to save a city, in which a single fish sells for more money than an ox.
From A Dialogue Concerning Oratory, Or The Causes Of Corrupt Eloquence The Works Of Cornelius Tacitus, Volume 8 (of 8); With An Essay On His Life And Genius, Notes, Supplements by Tacitus, Cornelius
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
