By″word′ (�), n. [AS. bïword; bï, E. by + word.] 1. A common saying; a proverb; a saying that has a general currency.
I knew a wise man that had it for a byword.
Bacon.
2. The object of a contemptuous saying.
Thou makest us a byword among the heathen.
Ps. xliv. 14