saying

C2+ Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /ˈseɪɪŋ/ UK /ˈseɪɪŋ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a short, well-known expression conveying a general truth

As the old saying goes, haste makes waste.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a short, well-known... proverb adage maxim aphorism dictum saw axiom

Word family

Related forms say saw

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

go without saying
to be so obvious that it does not need to be stated

Etymology

A noun use of the gerund of say, from Old English secgan ('to speak, tell'), from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- ('to say, point out').

secgan Old English *sekʷ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

# saying

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈseɪɪŋ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈseɪɪŋ/

## Meanings
1. a short, well-known expression conveying a general truth

## Examples
- As the old saying goes, haste makes waste.

## Synonyms
- proverb
- adage
- maxim
- aphorism
- dictum
- saw
- axiom

## Related Forms
- say
- saw

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: secgan
- Root: *sekʷ-

## Etymology
A noun use of the gerund of say, from Old English secgan ('to speak, tell'), from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- ('to say, point out').

## AI Etymology
Saying is from a noun use of the gerund of say, from Old English secgan ('to speak, tell'), from Proto-Germanic *sagjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- ('to say, point out'). The historical chain includes Old English secgan and Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ-. Older glosses in the chain include "to speak, tell" and "to say, point out", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, saying is best read as borrowing, yielding an English noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun, with the sense "a short, well-known expression conveying a general truth". related forms include say and saw. The result is an English noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

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