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Webster 1913 Edition

Byword

By′wordˊ

,

Noun.

[AS.

bïword

;

bï

, E.

by

+

word

.]

1.

A common saying; a proverb; a saying that has a general currency.

I knew a wise man that had it for a

byword

.

Bacon.

2.

The object of a contemptuous saying.

Thou makest us a

byword

among the heathen.

Ps. xliv. 14