different between sparra vs sparrow

English

Etymology

Pronunciation spelling of sparrow, representing Cockney English.

Noun

sparra (plural sparras)

1. (London, chiefly Cockney) A sparrow.
   • 2008, Jon Wise, Double trouble as soap won't wash, People

     Jason dons a screwed-up accent that Madonna would be proud of. While Martine, loved for being a cockney sparra, unfortunately goes posh.

   • 1859, Samuel Carter Hall, The book of the Thames: from its rise to its fall, p. 351

     "Ah ! ah ! the fun was, one of the company said it was as like a sparra as one pea is like another; how I did laugh to myself, for she grew quite offended like, and insisted that this was a light brown bird, but that a sparra was next to black"

Anagrams

• Parras

Scots

Alternative forms

• spur, spug, spuggie, speug

Noun

sparra (plural sparras)

1. sparrow

Swedish

Etymology

Possibly from Old Norse sperrask (“to kick out”). However, possibly instead derived from Middle French esparer (“to kick”), from old Italian sparare (“to fling”), from Latin exparare, from ex- + parare (“to prepare”). See also English parry.

Verb

sparra (present sparrar, preterite sparrade, supine sparrat, imperative sparra)

1. To spar with someone (when training for boxing or martial arts).

Conjugation

References

Anagrams

• rapars, raspar, sparar

English

Etymology

From Middle English sparwe, sparowe, from Old English spearwa, from Proto-West Germanic *sparw?, from Proto-Germanic *sparwô, from Proto-Indo-European *sp?r (“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 sp?r?ñ, Ancient Greek ??? (psár, “starling”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?spæ???/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?spæ?o?/, /?sp??o?/
• (Mary–marry–merry distinction)
• (Mary–marry–merry merger)
• Rhymes: -ær??

Noun

sparrow (plural sparrows)

1. The house sparrow, Passer domesticus; a small bird with a short bill, and brown, white and gray feathers.
2. A member of the family Passeridae, comprising small Old World songbirds.
3. A member of the family Emberizidae, comprising small New World songbirds.
4. Generically, any small, nondescript bird.
5. (Britain, 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, page 54:

     I take it there 's scarcely a happier fellow alive than your honest town-bred smoke-dried cockney sparrow.

Synonyms

• spadger, sparra, spoggy, spuggy

Derived terms

Translations