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APHORISM
Definition of APHORISM
noun
A concise expression of a principle in an area of knowledge; an axiom, a precept.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
The noun is derived from Late Middle English amphorisme, from Middle French aphorisme, afforisme (modern French aphorisme), from Medieval Latin aphorismus, aforismus, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓φορῐσμός (ăphorĭsmós, “limitation; distinction, separation; definition; aphorism”), from ἀφορίζω (aphorízō, “to mark off a boundary; to define, determine; to distinguish, separate; etc.”) + -μός (-mós, suffix forming abstract nouns). Ἀφορίζω (Aphorízō) is from ᾰ̓πο- (ăpo-, prefix meaning ‘away; from; off’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó (“away; off”)) + ὁρίζω (horízō, “to delimit; to define; to determine; to divide, separate; etc.”) (from ὅρος (hóros, “boundary, limit; definition, term; etc.”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *werw- (“to draw; to mark out”)) + -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō, “suffix forming similative verbs”)). The verb is derived from the noun.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
5 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
9%
of traced words share this origin (2,608)
How it is built
Same root, APHORISM · 1 relative in the game
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
APHORISM in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 63 boards so far. 191 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 27, 16 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 144, 11 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First ever to find it
on Day 27, 16 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
APHORISM starts with A and ends with M. Sorted, its letters read AHIMOPRS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
One other word uses exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start APHORI
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 27
Could you have found APHORISM?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 27 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER