blood is thicker than water

English

Proverb

blood is thicker than water

1. Family relations and loyalties are stronger than relationships with people who are not family members.
   • 1866, Anthony Trollope, The Belton Estate, ch. 30,

     Blood is thicker than water, is it not? If cousins are not friends, who can be?

   • circa 1915, Lucy Fitch Perkins, The Scotch Twins, ch. 5,

     The old clans are scattered now, but blood is thicker than water still, and you're welcome to the fireside of your kinsman!

Translations

relationships are stronger within the family

• Armenian: արյունը ջուր չի դառնա (aryunə jur chi darna)
• Czech: krev není voda (cs)
• Danish: blod er tykkere end vand (da)
• Finnish: veri on vettä sakeampaa
• French: la voix du sang est la plus forte (fr), les liens du sang sont les plus forts (fr)
• German: Blut ist dicker als Wasser (de)
• Hungarian: a vér nem válik vízzé (hu)
• Norwegian: blod er tykkere enn vann (no)
• Polish: krew nie woda (pl)

• Russian: кровь — не водица (ru) (krov' — ne vodíca)  (blood is not water), кровь людская — не водица (ru) (krov' ljudskája — ne vodíca)  (people's blood is not water)
• Scottish Gaelic: is tighe fuil na bùrn (gd)
• Serbo-Croatian: крв није вода (sh) (krv nije voda)
• Slovene: kri ni voda (sl) (blood is not water)
• Spanish: la sangre tira mucho
• Swedish: blod är tjockare än vatten
• Thai: เลือดข้นกว่าน้ำ (th)
• Welsh: gwaed yn dewach na dŵr (cy)

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, ISBN 0-679-44554-4, p. 32.