Byword

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