Etymology

Ultimately from German Spatz ‎(“sparrow”), from Old High German sparo ‎(“sparrow”), from Proto-Germanic *sparwô ‎(“sparrow”). Cognate with Russian шпак ‎(špak, “starling”), Ukrainian шпак ‎(špak), Belarusian шпак ‎(špak), Polish szpak ‎(“starling”).