Definition of "apothegm" []

• A terse, witty, instructive saying; a maxim. (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.

• "The whole “pass now, fix later” apothegm is naive."
• "We'll let Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl complete that apothegm in the time-honoured way."
• "In practical terms, it becomes akin to the line about owing a bank a billion dollars, though recent events may have given the lie to that apothegm."