adage

An old saying which has obtained credit by long use.

He describes the operation thus: "The heavy ram employed to impart the finishing strokes, hoisted up with double purchase and snail's pace to the summit of the Piling Engine, and then falling down like a thunderbolt on the head of the devoted timber, driving it perhaps a single half inch in to the stratum below, is well calculated to put to the test the virtue of patience, while it illustrates the old adage of—slow and sure."

An old saying which has been overused or considered a cliché; a trite maxim.

Like the poore Cat i’ th’ Addage.

Clipping of adagio.