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; it is easier to establish friendships with people that one has a lot in common with.
Synonyms: like attracts like, like likes like, apple does not fall far from the tree

Translations

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.”)
Bengali: ঝাঁকের কই ঝাঁকেই মেশে (jhãker koi jhãkei meśe)
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)

Hokkien: 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.)

Mandarin: 物以類聚／物以类聚 (zh) (wùyǐlèijù)
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) (literally “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, literally “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: líkur sækir líkan heim (literally “like pays a visit to like”), sækjast sér um líkir (literally “those who are like attract each other”)
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) (literally “tell me who you hang out with and I'll tell you who you are”)
Romanian: cine se aseamănă se adună (literally “who resemble each other, assemble together”), spune-mi cu cine te însoțești ca să îți spun cine ești (literally “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
Sicilian: nun ti pigghiu si nun t'assumigghiu
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