adage

noun

ad·​age ˈa-dij 

: 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."

Synonyms of adage

• proverb
• saying
• word
• maxim

Examples of adage in a Sentence

that old adage, “the early bird gets the worm”

Recent Examples on the Web

More than 5,000 of you wrote in with adages that were wise, moving and often funny — from the golden rule to the importance of always wearing clean underwear. —Catherine Pearson, New York Times, 8 May 2026

Spe Chen speaks with the man working to preserve the city’s heritage of neon lights, and David Ingles probes the validity of an old market adage in the age of AI. —Bloomberg, 7 May 2026

Mother knows best, the old adage goes. —Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Apr. 2026

As the adage goes, the road to success is seldom a straight line. —James Manso, Footwear News, 28 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

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 *h₂eǵ-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.

First Known Use

1530, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

adage

noun

ad·​age ˈad-ij 

: an old familiar saying : proverb