μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ
From LSJ
ἢ λέγε τι σιγῆς κρεῖττον ἢ σιγὴν ἔχε → either say something better than silence or keep silence (Menander)
Translations
| Language | Translation |
|---|---|
| Armenian | մի ծաղկով գարուն չի գա |
| Bulgarian | една птичка пролет не прави |
| Chinese Mandarin | 燕不成夏, 孤燕不成夏, 獨燕不成夏 |
| Czech | jedna vlaštovka jaro nedělá |
| Dutch | één zwaluw maakt de lente niet, een zwaluw maakt nog geen lente, een zwaluw maakt nog geen zomer, één zwaluw brengt nog geen zomer |
| English | one swallow does not a summer make, one swallow does not a spring make, one swallow does not make a spring, one swallow does not make a summer, one swallow doesn't a spring make, one swallow doesn't a summer make, one swallow doesn't make a spring, one swallow doesn't make a summer |
| Esperanto | unu kukolo printempon ne venigas |
| Finnish | ei yksi pääsky kesää tee |
| French | une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps |
| Galician | unha anduriña soa non fai verán |
| Georgian | ერთი ენძელა გაზაფხულს ვერ მოიყვანს |
| German | eine Schwalbe macht noch keinen Sommer, eine Schwalbe Frühling nicht macht, eine Schwalbe macht noch keinen Frühling, einmal ist keinmal |
| Greek | ένα χελιδόνι δεν φέρνει την άνοιξη, ένας κούκος δε φέρνει την άνοιξη |
| Ancient Greek | μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ |
| Hungarian | egy fecske nem csinál nyarat |
| Italian | una rondine non fa primavera |
| Korean | 한 마리의 제비가 왔다고 봄이 온 것은 아니다 |
| Norwegian Bokmål | en svale gjør ingen sommer |
| Norwegian Nynorsk | ei svale gjer ingen sommar |
| Polish | jedna jaskółka wiosny nie czyni |
| Portuguese | uma andorinha só não faz verão |
| Romanian | cu o floare nu se face primăvară |
| Russian | первая ласточка весны не делает, одна ласточка не делает весны |
| Scottish Gaelic | cha dèan aon smeòrach samhradh |
| Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic | једна ласта не чини прољеће |
| Serbo-Croatian Roman | jedna lasta ne čini proljeće |
| Spanish | una sola golondrina no hace el verano, una golondrina no hace verano |
| Swedish | en svala gör ingen sommar |
| Vietnamese | một con nhạn không làm nên mùa xuân, một con én không làm nên mùa xuân |
| Welsh | un wennol ni wna wanwyn |
Wiktionary EN
An allusion to the return of migrating swallows at the start of the summer season.
Calque of Ancient Greek μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ (mía khelidṑn éar ou poieî), a remark found in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (1098a18: “one swallow does not a summer make, nor one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy”), itself inspired by the fable The Young Man and the Swallow by Aesop.
The unusual English word order (in use from c. 1920) may be influenced by the line “Stone walls do not a prison make,” from To Althea, from Prison by Richard Lovelace (1642).
