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sparrow

noun
SaySPA-roh/ˈspæɹoʊ/UK/ˈspæɹəʊ/

Pluralsparrows

4 meanings of sparrow

Practice

  1. 1
    nouncountable
    A small songbird of the Old World family Passeridae, especially the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), which has a short, thick bill and brown, gray, and white plumage.

    A sparrow hopped across the café patio, picking up crumbs under the tables.

    Noisy sparrows had built a nest in the gap under the roof tiles.

  2. 2
    small bird generallynouncountable
    Any small, plain-looking bird, loosely including birds that are not true sparrows.

    To most city dwellers, any small gray bird pecking at the sidewalk is just a sparrow.

    Beginners lump the little brown birds in the hedge together as sparrows until they get a closer look.

  3. 3
    American songbirdnouncountable
    Any bird of the family Passerellidae, small songbirds of the Americas, which some classifications place in the family Emberizidae instead.

    A song sparrow sang from the top of the fence post every morning in spring.

    Across North America, many kinds of sparrows scratch for seed on the ground in fields and backyards.

    Note

    Despite the shared name, the sparrows of the Americas are not close kin of the Old World sparrows: they form a family of their own, Passerellidae. Some classifications have placed them in Emberizidae instead, which is why both family names turn up in field guides and older books.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • New World sparrows are not closely related to Old World sparrows. animaldiversity.org
    • New World sparrows form the family Passerellidae. en.wikipedia.org
    • Earlier classifications included New World sparrows in Emberizidae, explaining the alternative family name in older bird literature. americanornithology.org

Less common meaning

  1. 4
    noundialectalLondonUKcountable
    A person who is quick-witted and full of life.

    She played the market trader as a proper cockney sparrow, all quick jokes and cheeky grins.

    He was a cheerful little sparrow of a man, never short of a quick reply.

    UsageUsually used in the phrase cockney sparrow.

    Note

    The usage is chiefly London's, and it lives mostly in the phrase cockney sparrow: the chirpy, quick-talking Londoner who is never lost for words. Charles Henry Ross could already call the "town-bred smoke-dried cockney sparrow" the happiest fellow alive in 1878, and the BBC still gave the label to the actress Martine McCutcheon in 2005.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English sparwe, from Old English spearwa, from Proto-Germanic *sparwô, from Proto-Indo-European *spḗr ("sparrow"). It is related to German Sperling, Swedish sparv and Danish spurv ("sparrow"), and to Ancient Greek ψάρ (psár, "starling").

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 8 facts