aphorism

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle French aphorisme, from Late Latin aphorismus, from Ancient Greek ἀφορισμός (aphorismos, “pithy phrase containing a general truth”), from ἀφορίζω (aphorizō, “I define, mark off or determine”), from ἀπό (apo, “off”) + ὁρίζω (horizō, “I divide, bound”), from ὅρος (horos, “boundary”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæ.fə.ɹɪzm̩/

Noun

aphorism (plural aphorisms)

1. An original laconic phrase conveying some principle or concept of thought.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:saying

Related terms

• aphorist
• aphoristic

Translations

short phrase conveying some principle or concept of thought

• Bulgarian: афоризъм (bg) m (aforizǎm)
• Catalan: aforisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 格言 (cmn) (géyán)

• Czech: aforismus (cs) m, aforizmus (cs) m
• Danish: aforisme (da) c
• Finnish: aforismi (fi), mietelause (fi)
• French: aphorisme (fr) m
• German: Aphorismus (de)
• Greek: απόφθεγμα (el) (apófthegma)
• Hebrew: פתגם (he)
• Hungarian: aforizma (hu)

• Icelandic: kjarnyrði (is) n, spakmæli (is) n pl, orðskviður (is) f pl
• Italian: aforisma (it)
• Japanese: 格言 (ja) (かくげん, kakugen)
• Norwegian: aforisme (no) m
• Portuguese: aforismo (pt) m
• Romanian: aforism (ro), aforisme (ro) n pl
• Russian: афоризм (ru) (aforízm) m 
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: афоризам (sh) m

  Roman: aforizam (sh) m

• Slovene: aforizem (sl) m
• Spanish: aforismo (es) m
• Swedish: aforism (sv) c
• Ukrainian: афоризм (uk) m (aforyzm)

See also

• adage
• apophthegm
• maxim
• Category:English aphorisms

External links

• aphorism in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• aphorism in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• aphorism at OneLook Dictionary Search