Definition of "aphorism" []

• A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion; an adage. See Synonyms at saying. (noun)
• A brief statement of a principle. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Code and other Laws of Cyberspace, in which he coined the aphorism "code is law" and predicted that commercialization would lead to the demise of the open Internet."
• "*: The aphorism is true in its weak sense; words have no inherent meaning, so of course the meaning of a word is whatever is history has led to it being recognized as denoting."
• "A good aphorism is the tip of an iceberg of thought."