adage(n = noun.communication) byword, proverb, saw - a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people;
is a kind of expression, locution, saying

   An old saying, which has obtained credit by long use; a proverb. [1913 Webster]
"Letting “I dare not” wait upon “I would,”
Like the poor cat i' the adage." [1913 Webster]

adage, n. a traditional maxim, a proverb.

Etymology:
F f. L adagium (as AD-, root of aio say)

N  maxim, aphorism, apothegm, apophthegm, dictum, saying, adage, saw, proverb, sentence, mot, motto, word, byword, moral, phylactery, protasis, axiom, theorem, scholium, truism, postulate, first principles, a priori fact, assumption (supposition), reflection, conclusion, golden rule, principle, principia, profession of faith, settled principle, accepted principle, formula, accepted fact, received truth, wise maxim, sage maxim, received maxim, admitted maxim, recognized maxim, true saying, common saying, hackneyed saying, trite saying, commonplace saying, aphoristic, proverbial, phylacteric, axiomatic, gnomic, as the saying goes, as the saying is, as they say.