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Robin vs Sparrow - What's the difference?

robin | sparrow |

As nouns the difference between robin and sparrow

is that robin is various passerine birds (about 100 species) of the families Muscicapidae, Turdidae and Petroicidae (formerly family: Eopsaltridae), typically with a red breast while sparrow is the house sparrow, Passer domesticus; a small bird with a short bill, and brown, white and gray feathers.

As proper nouns the difference between robin and sparrow

is that robin is a given name derived from Germanic while Sparrow is {{surname}.

robin

English

(wikipedia robin)

Noun

(en noun)
  • Various passerine birds (about 100 species) of the families Muscicapidae, Turdidae and Petroicidae (formerly ), typically with a red breast.
  • # A European robin; ''Erithacus rubecula.
  • #*{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Michael Arlen), title= “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, chapter=Ep./4/2
  • , passage=As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note.}}
  • # An American robin; Turdus migratorius .
  • Usage notes

    The American robin is quite different from the European one: English settlers in America so named a red-breasted bird much larger than the European robin.

    Synonyms

    * (all senses) redbreast, robin redbreast * (the European robin)

    Derived terms

    * robin redbreast * round-robin

    sparrow

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The house sparrow, Passer domesticus ; a small bird with a short bill, and brown, white and gray feathers.
  • A member of the family Passeridae, comprising small Old World songbirds.
  • A member of the family Emberizidae, comprising small New World songbirds.
  • Generically, any small, nondescript bird.
  • (UK, chiefly, London) A quick-witted, lively person. Often used in the phrase cockney sparrow .
  • * 2005 , Drama Faces: Martine McCutcheon , BBC
  • Professional cockney sparrow Martine has acted since childhood.
  • * 1878 , Ally Sloper's guide to the Paris exhibition , Charles Henry Ross, p. 54
  • I take it there 's scarcely a happier fellow alive than your honest town-bred smoke-dried cockney sparrow .

    Derived terms

    * sparrowhawk * house sparrow * (tree sparrow)

    Synonyms

    (checksyns) * spadger, sparra, spuggy