# sparrow

Pronunciation: say "SPA-roh" US /ˈspæɹoʊ/, UK /ˈspæɹəʊ/

## Noun

1. 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.
   - Simple: A small brown and gray bird with a short beak, common in towns, especially the house sparrow and its close relatives.
   - _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. Any small, plain-looking bird, loosely including birds that are not true sparrows.
   - Simple: Any small, plain-looking bird, even if it is not really a sparrow.
   - _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. Any bird of the family Passerellidae, small songbirds of the Americas, which some classifications place in the family Emberizidae instead.
   - Simple: A bird from a family of small songbirds that live in North and South America.
   - _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._
4. A person who is quick-witted and full of life. *(dialectal, London, UK)*
   - Simple: A person who is clever, quick to answer, and full of energy.
   - _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._

## 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").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/sparrow (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).