Byword See also Parable; Proverb an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, Deut. 28:37. Israel shall be … a byword among all people, 1 Kgs. 9:7. Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, Ps. 44:14. become a hiss and a byword, 1 Ne. 19:14.