English [ edit ] Alternative forms [ edit ] Etymology [ edit ] The expression appears to have surfaced in the 16th century, allegedly a literal translation of Plato's Republic .[1] [2] 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 [ edit ] Proverb [ edit ] birds of a feather flock together
( idiomatic ) 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 [ edit ] Derived terms [ edit ] Related terms [ edit ] Translations [ edit ] people of similar character, etc. tend to associate
Arabic: اَلطُّيُورُ عَلَىٰ أَشْكَالِهَا تَقَعُ ( aṭ-ṭuyūru ʕalā ʔaškālihā taqaʕu , literally “ birds stumble upon their kinds ” )
Moroccan Arabic: مع من شفتك، شبهتك ( mʕa 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 [ edit ] Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings , 1996, →ISBN , p. 31.