birds of a feather flock together

English dictionary entry

Meanings

proverb
  1. 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.

Pronunciation

en-au-birds of a feather flock together.ogg

Word forms

birds of a feather flock together 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. 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."

Synonyms

like attracts like like likes like apple does not fall far from the tree

Derived words

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.