▪ I. adage1
(ˈædɪdʒ)
[a. Fr. adage, ad. L. adagium a proverb, f. ad to + *agi- root of ajo = agio I say. (Fick I. 481.) A by-form was adagy.]
‘A maxim handed down from antiquity; a proverb.’ J.
| 1548 Hall Chron. Edw. IV, an. 9, 209 He forgat the olde adage, saynge in tyme of peace prouyde for warre. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. iv. 126 Vnlesse the Adage must be verifi'd, That Beggers mounted, runne their Horse to death. 1605 ― Macb. i. vii. 45 Letting, I dare not, wait vpon I would, Like the poore Cat i'th'Addage. 1642 Howell For. Trav. 25 Every Nation hath certain Proverbs and Adages peculiar to it selfe. a 1733 North Lives of Norths (1826) II. 355 According to the philosophic adage, omnes stulti insaniunt, all fools are out of their wits. 1847 Barham Ingol. Leg. (1877) 6 That truest of adages—‘Murder will out.’ 1872 Jenkinson Guide to Eng. Lakes (1879) 189 Tourists in their anxiety to cut off a corner are sometimes induced to cross the valley, but..discover the truth of the adage ‘most haste, least speed.’ |
▪ II. ‖ adage2 Ballet.
(ədɑːʒ)
[Fr., ad. It. adagio adagio.]
= adagio n.2 (See also quots. 1913, 1931.)
| [1913 C. d'Albert Dancing, Adage (l'.), when the sublimity of the subject chosen is represented by postures, attitudes, play of the arms or countenance, in any position or in pirouetting. 1931 C. W. Beaumont French-Eng. Dict. Techn. Terms Classical Ballet 1 Adage, Adagio. It has two meanings according to its application. (1) a dance designed particularly to enable a danseuse, generally assisted by a male partner, to display her grace, sense of line, and perfect balance. (2) a generic term for a series of exercises designed to develop grace, sense of line, and balance, particularly when the body is supported on one foot.] 1943 K. Ambrose Ballet-Lover's Pocket-Bk. 24 Whilst tying the shoe-lace, then, imagine maintaining a pleasing serenity of expression, and grace and firmness of bearing at the same time; when some idea of the physical implications of balletic adage will be reached. 1957 Times 23 Aug. 11/1 Mr. John Gilpin shone, both in his lyrical adages and in the passages of brio. 1968 J. Winearls Mod. Dance (ed. 2) ii. 70 An Adage in dancing is a sequence of movements following one another slowly and smoothly in perfect equilibrium. |