English
adage
Adage comes from Latin adā̆gium ‘proverb, adage’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadā̆gium‘proverb, adage’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600adage
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1606same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadā̆gium‘proverb, adage’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600adage
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1606same form
Earliest quotation: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “Like the poore Cat i’ th’ Addage.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ- ‘to say’
negative, deny, renegade, negate, prodigious, negation, renege, 1 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’
through Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’
through Latin ad ‘toward, to (direction)’
agree, aim, ad, appoint, await, attire, amortization, affix, accolade, alliteration, affine, après, adulation, apportion, apres, adroit, adobo, 20 more
Today it means
noun An old saying which has obtained credit by long use.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin adā̆gium / adage