BYWORD

By″word′ (�), n. [[AS. bïword; bï, E. by + word.]] 1. 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. 2. The object of a contemptuous saying.
Thou makest us a byword among the heathen. Ps. xliv. 14