birds of a feather flock together

birds of a feather flock together

English

Alternative forms

• birds of the feather flock together

Etymology

The expression appears to have surfaced in the 16th century, allegedly a literal translation of Plato's Republic.[1][2] In 1545, William Turner wrote a version of the expression in the Rescuing of Romish Fox: "Byrdes of on kynde and color flok and flye allwayes together." One can, however, also compare the expression to Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 27:9: "Birds resort unto their like."

Pronunciation

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Proverb

birds of a feather flock together

1. (idiomatic) People of similar character, background, racial group or taste tend to congregate or associate with one another.

Synonyms

• like attracts like
• like likes like
• apple does not fall far from the tree

Antonyms

• opposites attract

Derived terms

• flock together

Related terms

• birds of a feather

Translations

people of similar character, etc. tend to associate

Arabic: اَلطُّيُورُ عَلَىٰ أَشْكَالِهَا تَقَعُ‎ (aṭ-ṭuyūru ʿalā ʾaškālihā taqaʿu, literally “birds stumble upon their kinds”) Moroccan Arabic: مع من شفتك، شبهتك‎ (mʿa men šuftak, šabbahtak, literally “With whom I saw you with, I compare you to.”) Chinese: Cantonese: 物以類聚, 物以类聚 (mat⁶ ji⁵ leoi⁶ zeoi⁶) Hakka: 人同人好，鬼同鬼好 (ngìn thùng ngìn hó, kúi thùng kúi hó) Mandarin: 物以類聚／物以类聚 (zh) (wùyǐlèijù) Min Nan: 龍交龍，鳳交鳳，隱痀的交侗戇, 龙交龙，凤交凤，隐痀的交侗戆 (Lêng kau lêng, hōng kau hōng, ún-ku--ê kau tòng-gōng.) Czech: vrána k vráně sedá Dutch: soort zoekt soort Esperanto: birdoj samplumaj flugas kunaj Finnish: samanlaiset lapset leikkivät parhaiten French: qui se ressemble s'assemble (fr) (who resemble each other, assemble together) German: Gleich und Gleich gesellt sich gern (de) (literally “same and same like to consort”); zeig mir deine Freunde und ich sage dir, wer du bist (literally “show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are”) Greek: όμοιος ομοίω αεί πελάζει (ómoios omoío aeí pelázei), τα όμοια έλκονται (ta ómoia élkontai) Hebrew: כל עוף למינו ישכון ובני אדם לדומה לו‎, הָלַךְ זַרְזִיר אֵצֶל עוֹרֵב‎ (he) (halách zarzír etzel 'orév) (the starling went with the raven) Hindi: एक थाली के चट्टे बट्टे (ek thālī ke caṭṭe baṭṭe) Hungarian: zsák a foltját megtalálja, madarat tolláról, embert barátjáról Icelandic: (like pays a visit to like) líkur sækir líkan heim, (those who are like attract each other) sækjast sér um líkir Irish: is bách iad lucht aon cheirde Italian: chi si assomiglia si piglia, dio li fa e poi li accoppia Japanese: 類は友を呼ぶ (ja) (るいはともをよぶ, rui wa tomo o yobu), 牛は牛連れ、馬は馬連れ (うしはうしづれ、うまはうまづれ, ushi wa ushi zure, uma wa uma zure) Korean: 유유상종(類類相從) (ko) (yuyusangjong), 끼리끼리 (kkirikkiri) Latin: pares cum paribus facillimē congregantur Latvian: tāds ar tādu saderas Macedonian: се стркалало грнчето си го нашло поклопчето (se strkalalo grnčeto si go našlo poklopčeto) Malay: Jawi: اڠݢڠ برسام اڠݢڠ, ڤيڤيت برسام ڤيڤيت‎, سامکه اءير هوجن دڠن اءير ڤريݢي؟‎, انته برسام انته, برس برسام برس‎, اورڠ سبنتوق باݢاي چينچين, ستيتيق باݢاي امس‎ Rumi: enggang bersama enggang, pipit bersama pipit, samakah air hujan dengan air perigi?, antah bersama antah, beras bersama beras, orang sebentuk bagai cincin, setitik bagai emas Maltese: ma' min rajtek xebbaħtek Norwegian: like barn leker best Polish: ciągnie swój do swego (pl) Portuguese: diga-me com quem andas e eu te direi quem és (pt) (tell me who you hang out with and I'll tell you who you are) Romanian: cine se aseamănă se adună (who resemble each other, assemble together), spune-mi cu cine te însoțești ca să îți spun cine ești (tell me who you hang out with in order for me to tell you who you are) Russian: я́блоко от я́блони недалеко́ па́дает (ru) (jábloko ot jábloni nedalekó pádajet), рыба́к рыбака́ ви́дит издалека́ (rybák rybaká vídit izdaleká), дура́к дурака́ ви́дит издалека́ (durák duraká vídit izdaleká) Sanskrit: भावो भावं निगच्छति (bhāvo bhāvaṃ nigacchati) Scottish Gaelic: an dubh-isean ag iarraidh an dubh-gheòidh, is toigh le bò mhaol bò mhaol eile Serbo-Croatian: svaka ptica svome jatu leti Slovak: vrana k vrane sadá (sk) Slovene: vrana vrani ne izkljuje oči, enake sorte ptiči skup letijo Spanish: dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres, cada oveja con su pareja, Dios los cría y ellos se juntan (es) Swedish: lika barn leka bäst (sv) Telugu: ఒకగూటి పక్షులు ఒకేచోటికి చేరుతాయి (okagūṭi pakṣulu okēcōṭiki cērutāyi) Turkish: it ulur, birbirini bulur Uyghur: مال تۈرى بىلەن‎ (mal türi bilen) Walloon: les cis ki si rshonnèt s' rashonnèt (wa) Welsh: adar o'r unlliw hedant i'r unlle

References

1. http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.2.i.html
2. https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/birds-of-a-feather-flock-together.html

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 31.