apothegm means A short, witty, instructive saying; an aphorism or maxim. It carries an Arena rating of 1650, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, apothegm ranks #571 of 13,220 for The Improbable, #1,246 of 13,220 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,862 of 13,220 for Most Exacting Words, #1,875 of 13,220 for Most Elegant Words.
apothegm is pronounced /ˈæ.pə.θɛm/.
Why “apothegm” is a great word
A concise, pointed saying, typically attributed to a particular speaker and prized for its instructive wit. From French *apophthegme* or Medieval Latin *apothegma*, from Ancient Greek ἀπόφθεγμα (*apóphthegma*, 'terse, pointed saying'), from ἀποφθέγγομαι (*apophthéngomai*, 'to speak out plainly'); first recorded in English use in the 1550s. Unlike an aphorism, which offers a detached, philosophical observation, or a proverb, which distills anonymous folk wisdom, an apothegm is a personal dart, crafted and launched from a specific mind. It is the sharp retort that silences a room, the deft phrase that unpicks a complex pretense, the intellectual blade that leaves a clean, instructive wound—the human desire to compress a lifetime’s understanding into a single, unforgetting point.
Etymology
From French apophthegme or Medieval Latin apothegma, from Ancient Greek ἀπόφθεγμα (apóphthegma), from ἀποφθέγγομαι (apophthéngomai, “speak out”).
noun
- A short, witty, instructive saying; an aphorism or maxim.“Every glaſs of wine, or bit almoſt, that I committed to my mouth, ſhe uſhered thither with ſome Apothegm or other: the whole ſeries, indeed, of her diſcourſe, was compoſed of nothing but reaſon or wit, which made me admire her; which ſhe eaſily underſtood, I perceived by her ſmiles, when ſhe obſerved me gaping, as it were, when ſhe ſpoke, as if I would have eaten up her Words.”
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