Birds of a feather flock together
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
People with similar interests, habits or character tend to associate with one another. Often shortened to birds of a feather. It can neutrally describe affinity or imply shared bad character. Regional use: English proverbial origin; now international English.
Origin
William Turner wrote in 1545 that birds of one kind and colour flock and fly together. John Minsheu's 1599 Spanish-English dictionary supplies the recognisable 'Birdes of a feather will flocke togither', and a 1600 Livy translation says they fly together. These records support a sixteenth-century English proverb; a line in a nineteenth-century translation of Plato is the translator's idiom, not evidence that Plato coined it.
Research Sources
Variants
- Birds of a feather
- Birds of one feather flock together
- Birds of a feather will flock together
Usage Examples
- Nina and Jo met at a chess club and soon became inseparable; birds of a feather flock together.
- The two gadget enthusiasts found each other within minutes, proving that birds of a feather flock together.
- Birds of a feather flock together, though in this case their shared habit was interrupting everyone.