English

Alternative forms

• 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

Proverb

one swallow does not a summer make

1. One instance of an event (such as the arrival of a single bird) does not necessarily indicate a trend.
   • 1886, Louisa May Alcott, Jo's Boys, ch. 9:

     [T]hough one swallow does not make a summer, one engagement is apt to make several, and her boys were, most of them, at the inflammable age when a spark ignites the flame.

   • 1921 April 4, "Smile a While," The Day (USA), p. 6 (retrieved 29 Nov 2011):

     One swallow does not a summer make, nor one onion a spring garden.

   • 1969 Sept. 19, Bob Johnson, "Sports: September Madness, Spokane Daily Chronicle (USA), p. 15:

     One swallow does not a summer make and one football game doesn't make a season.

   • 2001 June 24, Susan Tifft, "The Philippines: Now the Hard Part," Time:

     Added one Western diplomat: "Aquino's success undoubtedly weakens the Communists' appeal to the so-called mass base. But one swallow does not a summer make."

Translations

Anagrams

• one swallow does not make a summer