From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishaphorismaph‧o‧ris‧m /ˈæfərɪzəm/ noun [countable] formal SLa short phrase that contains a wise idea SYN saying —aphoristic /ˌæfəˈrɪstɪk◂/ adjective
Examples from the Corpus
aphorism• He developed an aphorism, New York is over-eager to get rich.• Sounds like an aphorism from some ancient sage, and so it is.• But good aphorisms do not have to be meaningful in a strict sense.• Refusing to build a system or to allow his philosophy to be systematized, he writes in aphorisms.• These speeches had to be rich in literary illusion and ruminative aphorism.• Perhaps the same aphorism could be said of our body.Origin aphorism (1500-1600) French aphorisme, from Late Latin, from Greek aphorismos “definition, aphorism”, from aphorizein “to define” 