From Old English 'spearwa,' from Proto-Germanic *sparwō, possibly meaning 'flutterer.'
A small, seed-eating songbird of the family Passeridae, typically brown and grey, found worldwide near human habitation.
From Old English 'spearwa,' from Proto-Germanic *sparwō, possibly related to a PIE root *sper- meaning 'to flutter' or 'to jerk.' The sparrow has been humanity's closest avian companion for millennia. Key roots: *sper- (Proto-Indo-European: "to flutter, to jerk").
House sparrows followed the spread of agriculture from the Fertile Crescent roughly 10,000 years ago—they are one of the few wild animals that actively chose domestication alongside humans.