byword Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
    proverb; saw; adage.

WordNet

By"word` noun
Etymology
AS.bïword; bï, E.by+word.
Definitions
  1. A common saying; a proverb; a saying that has a general currency.
    I knew a wise man that had it for a byword. Bacon.
  2. The object of a contemptuous saying.
    Thou makest us a byword among the heathen. Ps. xliv. 14

Webster 1913