A trite maxim; a similitude; a parable. The Hebrew word thus rendered (mashal) has a wide signification. It comes from a root meaning "to be like," "parable." Rendered "proverb" in Isaiah 14:4; Habakkuk 2:6; "dark saying" in Psalm 49:4, Numbers 12:8. Ahab's defiant words in answer to the insolent demands of Benhadad, "Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off," is a well known instance of a proverbial saying (1 Kings 20:11).

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) A sentence which briefly and forcibly expresses some practical truth; a maxim; an adage.

2. (n.) A striking or paradoxical assertion; an obscure saying; an enigma; a parable.

3. (n.) A familiar illustration; a subject of contemptuous reference.

4. (n.) A drama exemplifying a proverb.

5. (v. t.) To name in, or as, a proverb.

6. (v. t.) To provide with a proverb.

7. (v. i.) To write or utter proverbs.