English
adage
Adage comes from Latin adā̆gium ‘proverb, adage’, from ad ‘toward, to (direction)’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ- ‘to say’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁eǵ-1‘to say’root named by Wiktionary
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éd2‘near, at’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ad2‘toward, to, on, up to, for’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEad3‘toward, to (direction)’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadā̆gium1‘proverb, adage’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600adage1
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1606adage1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English adage
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin ad
- 3 Wiktionary, Latin adagium
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “Like the poore Cat i’ th’ Addage.”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁eǵ-Wiktionary, English adage‘to say’root named by Wiktionary
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂édWiktionary, Latin ad‘near, at’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*adWiktionary, Latin ad‘toward, to, on, up to, for’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadWiktionary, Latin adagium‘toward, to (direction)’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadā̆giumWiktionary, English adage‘proverb, adage’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600adageWiktionary, English adage
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1606adageWiktionary, English adage. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “Like the poore Cat i’ th’ Addage.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ- ‘to say’
negative, deny, renegade, negate, prodigious, negation, renege, 1 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’
through Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’
through Latin ad ‘toward, to (direction)’
agree, aim, ad, appoint, await, attire, amortization, affix, accolade, alliteration, affine, adulation, apportion, apres, adroit, adobo, 20 more
Today it means
noun An old saying which has obtained credit by long use.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “adage”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin ad, Latin adagium. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ- / adage