sparrow

Etymology

From Middle English sparwe, sparowe, from Old English spearwa, from Proto-West Germanic *sparwō, from Proto-Germanic *sparwô, from Proto-Indo-European *spḗr (“sparrow”).

Cognate with Dutch spreeuw (“starling”), Alemannic German Spar (“sparrow”), German Sperling (“sparrow”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål spurv (“sparrow”), Norwegian Nynorsk sporv (“sparrow”), Swedish sparv (“sparrow”), Breton frao (“crow”), Tocharian A ṣpārāñ, Ancient Greek ψάρ (psár, “starling”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈspæɹəʊ/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈspæɹoʊ/, /ˈspɛɹoʊ/
Audio (US, without the Mary–marry–merry merger): (file)
Audio (US, Mary–marry–merry merger): (file)
Rhymes: -æɹəʊ

Noun

sparrow (plural sparrows)

The house sparrow, Passer domesticus; a small bird with a short bill, and brown, white and gray feathers.
Synonyms: spadger, (Australia) spoggy, spuggy
- 1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., published 1921, page 192:
  Man progresses generally, not both legs at once like a sparrow, but by putting one leg forward first, and then the other.
A member of the family Passeridae, comprising small Old World songbirds.
A member of the family Passerellidae (or Emberizidae, under classification systems that subsume the New World sparrows under Emberizidae), comprising small New World songbirds.
Generically, any small, nondescript bird.
(UK, chiefly London) A quick-witted, lively person.
cockney sparrow
- 1878, Charles Henry Ross, Ally Sloper's guide to the Paris exhibition, page 54:
  I take it there 's scarcely a happier fellow alive than your honest town-bred smoke-dried cockney sparrow.
- 2005, Drama Faces: Martine McCutcheon‎, BBC:
  Professional cockney sparrow Martine has acted since childhood.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Passer domesticus — see house sparrow

bird of the family Passeridae

Aghwan: 𐕖𐕒𐔱𐔰𐔾 (čobal)
Albanian: harabel (sq) m, trumcak (sq) m
Arabic: عَصْفُور (ʕaṣfūr), عُصْفُور m (ʕuṣfūr)
Egyptian Arabic: عصفور m (ʕuṣfūr)
Armenian: ճնճղուկ (hy) (čnčġuk), ծիտ (hy) (cit)
Middle Armenian: չիտ (čʻit)

Old Armenian: ծիտ (cit)
Assamese: ঘৰচিৰিকা (ghorsirika), ঘনচিৰিকা (ghonsirika), ঘৰচৰাই (ghorsorai)
Azerbaijani: sərçə (az)
Baluchi: جنجشک (jinjišk)
Bashkir: турғай (turğay)
Belarusian: верабе́й (be) m (vjerabjéj), варо́бчык m (varóbčyk) (diminutive)
Bengali: চড়ুই (bn) (coṛui), চড়াই (bn) (coṛai)
Bhojpuri: गौरइया (gauraiyā)
Bulgarian: врабче́ (bg) n (vrabčé)
Burmese: စာ (my) (ca)
Carpathian Rusyn: воробе́ль m (vorobélʹ)
Catalan: pardal (ca) m, teuladí (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 麻雀 (zh) (máquè)
Chuvash: ҫерҫи (śerś̬i)
Czech: vrabec (cs) m
Danish: spurv (da) c
Dupaningan Agta: pipittot
Dutch: mus (nl) m or f, huismus (nl) f
English:
Old English: spearwa m
Esperanto: pasero (eo)
Estonian: varblane (et)
Faroese: spurvur m, spurv f
Finnish: varpunen (fi)
French: moineau (fr) m
Galician: pardal (gl) m
Georgian: ბეღურა (ka) (beɣura), ჩიტი (čiṭi)
German: Sperling (de) m, Spatz (de) m
Gothic: 𐍃𐍀𐌰𐍂𐍅𐌰 n (sparwa)
Greek: σπουργίτι (el) n (spourgíti), σπουργίτης (el) m (spourgítis)
Ancient: στρουθός m (strouthós)
Gujarati: ચકલી (gu) f (caklī)
Hebrew: דְּרוֹר (he) m (dror), אַנְקוֹר (he) m (anqór)
Hindi: गौरैया (hi) m (gauraiyā), गौरिया (hi) f (gauriyā)
Hungarian: veréb (hu)
Icelandic: spörfugl (is) m
Indonesian: burung gereja
Ingrian: cirkkulain
Irish: gealbhan (ga) m
Italian: passero (it) m
Japanese: 雀 (ja) (すずめ, suzume)
Kaitag: чако (čako)
Kashmiri: کٲنٛتُر m (kạ̄ntur), کانٛتُر m (kāntur), ژٔر f (ċạr)
Kashubian: warbel m
Kazakh: торғай (torğai)
Khmer: ចាប (km) (caap)
Korean: 참새 (ko) (chamsae)
Kyrgyz: таранчы (ky) (tarancı), тараанчы (ky) (taraancı)
Lao: ກະຈອກ (ka chǭk)
Latin: passer (la) m
Latvian: zvirbulis m
Lithuanian: žvirblis (lt) m
Low German: Lüneng m
Luxembourgish: Spatz m
Macedonian: врабец m (vrabec), врапче (mk) n (vrapče)
Malay: pipit (ms)
Malayalam: കുരുവി (ml) (kuruvi)
Maori: tiu
Marathi: चिमणी f (cimṇī), चिमणा m (cimṇā)
Mingrelian: ჩიტი (čiṭi), ბაღჷრე (baɣəre)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: бор шувуу (bor šuvuu) (ornithological), богширго (mn) (bogširgo), болжмор (mn) (bolžmor) (popular, regional), бялзуухай (mn) (bjalzuuxaj) (popular, regional)
Muong: khé
Navajo: tsídiiłbáhí
Nepali: भँगेरा (bhãgerā)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: spurv (no) m

Nynorsk: sporv m
Occitan: passerat (oc) m, passeron m
Odia: ଚଟିଆ (or) (caṭiā)
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: врабии m (vrabii)
Old East Slavic: воробии m (vorobii)
Old Norse: spǫrr m
Pacoh: pleing
Persian: گنجشک (fa) (gonješk), ملیچ (melič/malič)
Plautdietsch: Spauz m
Polish: wróbel (pl) m
Portuguese: pardal (pt) m
Romanian: vrabie (ro) f
Russian: воробе́й (ru) m (vorobéj), воро́бышек (ru) (voróbyšek) (diminutive), воро́бушек (ru) m (voróbušek) (diminutive)
Sanskrit: चटक (sa) m (caṭaka)
Scottish Gaelic: gealbhonn m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: вра́бац m

Roman: vrábac (sh) m
Slovak: vrabec (sk) m
Slovene: vrábəc (sl) m
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: wrobel m

Upper Sorbian: wrobl m, wroblik m
Spanish: pasérido m, gorrión (es) m, pardal (es) m
Swahili: shomoro
Swedish: sparv (sv) c, sparvfink (sv) c
Sylheti: ꠌꠠꠂ (soṛoi)
Tagalog: pipit
Tajik: гунҷишк (tg) (gunjišk), чумчук (čumčuk)
Tamil: சிட்டுக்குருவி (ta) (ciṭṭukkuruvi), குருவி (ta) (kuruvi)
Tatar: чыпчык (tt) (çıpçıq)
Crimean Tatar: torğay
Telugu: పిచ్చుక (te) (piccuka)
Thai: กระจอก (th) (grà-jɔ̀ɔk)
Turkish: serçe (tr)
Ottoman Turkish: سرچه (serçe)
Turkmen: serçe
Ubykh: баӷыр (bağər)
Ukrainian: горобе́ць (uk) m (horobécʹ), горо́бчик m (horóbčyk) (diminutive), воробе́ць m (vorobécʹ) (dated), воробе́ль m (vorobélʹ) (dated or regional)
Urdu: گورییا m (gauraiyā)
Uyghur: قۇشقاچ (qushqach)
Uzbek: chumchuq (uz)
Venetan: seléga f, séłega f
Vietnamese: sẻ (vi)
Waigali: girišig
Welsh: sbrocsyn (cy) m, sbrocsynnod m pl
Yakut: барабыай (barabıay)
Yiddish: שפּערל m (shperl), וואָראָבייטשיק m (vorobeytshik)

bird of the family Emberizidae

Armenian: դրախտապան (draxtapan)
Dutch: gors (nl) m or f
Finnish: sirkku (fi)
French: bruant (fr) m
Galician: escribenta (gl) f
Hungarian: sármány (hu)
Polish: trznadel (pl) m
Portuguese: escrevedeira f
Swedish: fältsparv (sv) c

generically, any small, nondescript bird

Arabic: عَصْفُور m (ʕaṣfūr)
Armenian: ծիտ (hy) (cit)
Old Armenian: ծիտ (cit)
Catalan: pardal (ca) m
Finnish: pikkulintu (fi)
French: piaf (fr) m
Galician: paxariño m
Portuguese: passarinho (pt) m
Spanish: pájaro (es) m
Welsh: aderyn (cy) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Afrikaans: ^{(please verify)} mossie
Albanian: ^{(please verify)} harabeli
Alviri-Vidari: (Vidari): ^{(please verify)} گنگوشک (gangušk)
Azerbaijani: ^{(please verify)} sərçə (az)
Basque: ^{(please verify)} txolarre
Belarusian: ^{(please verify)} верабе́й (be) m (vjerabjéj)
Breton: ^{(please verify)} golvan (br)
Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} врабче́ (bg) n (vrabčé), ^{(please verify)} врабе́ц m (vrabéc)
Chechen: ^{(please verify)} хьозий (ḥʳozii)
Dutch: ^{(please verify)} mus (nl) f, ^{(please verify)} huismus (nl) f
Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} pasero (eo)
Estonian: ^{(please verify)} varblane (et)
Friulian: ^{(please verify)} passare
Galician: ^{(please verify)} pardal (gl), ^{(please verify)} gorrión (gl)
Gallurese: ^{(please verify)} furfurinu, ^{(please verify)} fruffurarzu, ^{(please verify)} bulfurarju m
Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} spör (^{(please verify)} gráspör (is))
Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} passere (ia)
Italian: ^{(please verify)} passero (it) m
Korean: ^{(please verify)} 참새 (ko) (chamsae)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} چۆلەکە (ckb) (çoleke), ^{(please verify)} پاساری (pasarî)

Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} beytik (ku)
Ladin: ^{(please verify)} spoz
Latgalian: ^{(please verify)} zvierbuļs m, ^{(please verify)} žeigurs m
Latin: ^{(please verify)} passer (la)
Latvian: ^{(please verify)} zvirbulis m
Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} žvirblis (lt) m, ^{(please verify)} žvirblė f
Low German: ^{(please verify)} Lünink, ^{(please verify)} Lünk, ^{(please verify)} Lüüntje m, ^{(please verify)} Dackfink m
Macedonian: ^{(please verify)} врабец m (vrabec)
Maltese: ^{(please verify)} għasfur tal-bejt
Mandarin:
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 麻雀 (zh) (máquè)
Mazanderani: میچکا (mičkâ)
Occitan: ^{(please verify)} passerat (oc)
Romani: ^{(please verify)} chirikloro m, ^{(please verify)} chirikliori f
Romanian: ^{(please verify)} vrabie (ro) f
Sardinian: ^{(please verify)} crucculeu, ^{(please verify)} gruccùcciu m
Sassarese: ^{(please verify)} furfurinu, ^{(please verify)} fruffurarzu, ^{(please verify)} bulfurarju m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} врабац m

Roman: ^{(please verify)} vrabac (sh) m
Slovene: ^{(please verify)} vrabec (sl) m
Swahili: ^{(please verify)} shomoro
Swedish: ^{(please verify)} sparv (sv) (^{(please verify)} gråsparv (sv))
Taos: ^{(please verify)} pʼį́wna
Turkish: ^{(please verify)} serçe (tr)
Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} sẻ (vi), ^{(please verify)} chim sẻ
West Frisian: ^{(please verify)} mosk (fy)

English