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

Audio (AU) (file)

Proverb

birds of a feather flock together

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

Synonyms

like attracts like
like likes like

Antonyms

opposites attract

Derived terms

flock together

Translations

people of similar character, etc. tend to associate

Arabic: الطيور على أشكالها تقع‎ (literally “birds sit down among their kind”)
Moroccan Arabic: مْع منْ شفْتكْ، مْع منْ شبّهْتكْ‎ (m3ə mən chəftək, m3ə mən shəbbəhtək, literally “I compare you to those I see you with”)
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 (zh), 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
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)
Hungarian: zsák a foltját megtalálja
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 (ko) (類類相從, yuyusangjong), 끼리끼리 (kkirikkiri)

Latin: pares cum paribus facillimē congregantur
Latvian: tāds ar tādu saderas
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
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 aseamana se aduna
Russian: рыба́к рыбака́ ви́дит издалека́ (rybák rybaká vídit izdaleká), дура́к дурака́ ви́дит издалека́ (durák duraká vídit izdaleká)
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

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

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[1] ttp://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.2.i.html

[2] ttps://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/birds-of-a-feather-flock-together.html