fine feathers make fine birds

fine feathers make fine birds
Beautiful clothes confer beauty or status on the wearer. Cf. early 16th-cent. Fr. les belles plumes font les beaux oiseaux. Identified as a Basque saying by 1583 J. SPONDANUS in tr. Odyssey VI. 81 apud meos Vascones..hac parœmia..: speciosae plumae avem speciosam constituunt, this is a proverb amongst my fellow Basques: beautiful feathers make a beautiful bird.

1592 G. DELAMOTHE French Alphabet II. 29 The faire feathers, makes a faire foule.

1658 E. PHILLIPS Mysteries of Love & Eloquence 162 Fine feathers make fine birds. As you may see in Hide Park.

1858 SURTEES Ask Mamma X. Mrs. Joe..essayed to pick her to pieces, intimating that she was much indebted to her dress—that fine feathers made fine birds.

1968 I. PETITE Life on Tiger Mountain xiv. I feel,..if, indeed, ‘fine feathers make a fine bird,’ then I would just as soon not be that peculiar kind of fine bird.


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  • fine feathers do not make fine birds — {literary} A person who wears fine clothes may not be as good as he looks. A proverb. * /Mary is pretty and she wears pretty clothes, but she is very mean. Fine feathers do not make fine birds./ Compare: HANDSOME IS AS HANDSOME DOES …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • fine\ feathers\ do\ not\ make\ fine\ birds — literary proverb A person who wears fine clothes may not be as good as he looks. Mary is pretty and she wears pretty clothes, but she is very mean. Fine feathers do not make fine birds. Compare: handsome is as handsome does …   Словарь американских идиом

  • fine feathers make fine birds — proverb beautiful clothes or an eye catching appearance make a person appear similarly beautiful or impressive …   Useful english dictionary

  • fine — Ⅰ. fine [1] ► ADJECTIVE 1) of very high quality. 2) satisfactory. 3) in good health and feeling well. 4) (of the weather) bright and clear. 5) (of a thread, filament, or hair) thin. 6) of delicate or intricate w …   English terms dictionary

  • fine — see fine feathers make fine birds fine words butter no parsnips rain before seven, fine before eleven …   Proverbs new dictionary

  • Origin of birds — For the book by Gerhard Heilmann, see The Origin of Birds (book). The famous Berlin specimen of Archaeopteryx lithographica The origin of birds is a contentious and central topic within evolutionary biology. A close relationship between birds and …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of Guinea — This is a list of the bird species recorded in Guinea. The avifauna of Guinea includes a total of 705 species, of which 2 are rare or accidental.This list s taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families, and species) and… …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of Ghana — This is a list of the bird species recorded in Ghana. The avifauna of Ghana includes a total of 754 species, of which 6 are rare or accidental.This list s taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families, and species) and… …   Wikipedia

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