Hebrew millah (Job 30:9), a word or speech, and hence object of talk; Hebrew mashal (Psalm 44:14), a proverb or parable. When it denotes a sharp word of derision, as in Deuteronomy 28:37, 1 Kings 9:7, 2 Chronicles 7:20, the Hebrew sheninah is used. In Jeremiah 24:9 it is rendered "taunt."

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) A common saying; a proverb; a saying that has a general currency.

2. (n.) The object of a contemptuous saying.