aphorism

English

Etymology

From Middle French aphorisme, from Late Latin aphorismus, from Ancient Greek ἀφορισμός (aphorismós, “pithy phrase containing a general truth”), from ἀφορίζω (aphorízō, “I define, mark off or determine”), from ἀπό (apó, “off”) + ὁρίζω (horízō, “I divide, bound”), from ὅρος (hóros, “boundary”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈæ.fə.ɹɪzm̩/
Audio (UK) (file)

Noun

aphorism (plural aphorisms)

A concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:saying

Related terms

aphorist
aphoristic

Translations

short phrase conveying some principle or concept of thought

Amharic: ጥቅሶች (ṭəḳsoč)
Bulgarian: афоризъм (bg) m (aforizǎm)
Catalan: aforisme (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 格言 (zh) (géyán)
Czech: aforismus (cs) m, aforizmus (cs) m
Danish: aforisme (da) c
Dutch: aforisme (nl) n
Finnish: aforismi (fi), mietelause (fi)
French: aphorisme (fr) m
German: Aphorismus (de)
Greek: αφορισμός (el) m (aforismós)
Ancient: ἀφορισμός m (aphorismós)
Hebrew: פתגם‎ (he)
Hungarian: aforizma (hu)
Icelandic: kjarnyrði n, spakmæli (is) n pl, orðskviður f pl
Irish: nathán m, seanrá m
Italian: aforisma (it)
Japanese: 格言 (ja) (かくげん, kakugen)
Latvian: aforisms (lv) m
Macedonian: афори́зам m (aforízam)
Maori: whakataukī (mi)
Norwegian: aforisme (no) m
Polish: aforyzm (pl) m, maksyma (pl) f, sentencja (pl) f
Portuguese: aforismo (pt) m
Romanian: aforism (ro) n
Russian: афори́зм (ru) m (aforízm)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: афоризам m
Roman: aforizam (sh) m
Slovene: aforizem (sl) m
Spanish: aforismo (es) m
Swedish: aforism (sv) c
Turkish: aforizm (tr), özdeyiş (tr)
Ukrainian: афоризм (uk) m (aforyzm)
Welsh: doethair m
Yiddish: אַפֿאָריזם‎ m (aforizm)

Verb

aphorism (third-person singular simple present aphorisms, present participle aphorisming, simple past and past participle aphorismed)

To speak or write aphorisms.
- 1971, Arthur Schnitzler, My Youth in Vienna, page 95:
  But after each of us had inscribed his share (once I robbed my Aegidius for the purpose), our literary union was over; each of us tore his contribution out of the book and “aphorismed” on his own from then on.
- 1978, Vikram Kapur, The Traumatic Bite, page 32:
  He was thoughtful: “Preferences define superiority,” he aphorismed. “As long as preferences are not made godly edicts."
- 2003, Arthur Herzog, Glad to Be Here, page 146:
  “I don't know what more to do,” she confessed. “I've aphorismed my heart out and relationships have not improved one whit, it seems."