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APOPHTHEGM (from the Gr. It rogOey ya)
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APOPHTHEGM (from the Gr. It rogOey ya), a short and pointed utterance. The usual spelling up to Johnson's day was apothegm, which Webster and Worcester still prefer; it indicates the pronunciation—i.e. " apothem "—better than the other, which, however, is more usual in England and follows the derivation. Such sententious remarks as " Knowledge is Power " are apophthegms. They become " proverbs " by age and acceptance. Plutarch made a famous collection in his Apophthegmata Laconica.