a leopard cannot change its spots

English

Etymology

Ultimately from Jeremiah 13:23.[1]

Proverb

a leopard cannot change its spots

One cannot change one's own nature.
- 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 24, column 2:
  King. […] Lyons make Leopards tame. / Mo[wbray]. Yea, but not change his ſpots:
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 13:23, column 1:
  Can the Ethiopian change his ſkinne? or the leopard his ſpots?
- 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter II, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 60:
  End now all unkindness. Let us put the Jew to ransom, since the leopard will not change his spots, and a Jew he will continue to be.
- 1918, Johnston McCulley, Thubway Tham's Inthane Moment:
  The leopard cannot change his spots, old boy.

Synonyms

Translations

one cannot change one's own nature — see also what's bred in the bone will come out in the flesh

Arabic: please add this translation if you can
Armenian: կարմիր կովը կաշին չի փոխի (karmir kovə kašin čʻi pʻoxi), (specifically of Turks) թուրքը մնում է թուրք (tʻurkʻə mnum ē tʻurkʻ)
Azerbaijani: qozbeli qəbir düzəldər
Chinese:
Mandarin: 江山易改，本性難移／江山易改，本性难移 (zh) (jiāngshān yì gǎi, běnxìng nán yí), 狗改不了吃屎 (zh) (gǒu gǎi bùliǎo chī shǐ, literally “a dog can't help eating shit”), 牛牽到北京還是牛／牛牵到北京还是牛 (niú qiān dào Běijīng háishì niú)
Czech: starého psa novým kouskům nenaučíš, zvyk je železná košile
Danish: please add this translation if you can
Dutch: een vos verliest wel zijn haren, maar niet zijn streken, een vos verliest zijn streken niet
Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
Estonian: küürakat parandab ainult haud (literally “only the grave can cure a hunchback”)
Finnish: seepra ei pääse raidoistaan (literally “a zebra cannot get rid of its stripes”), jäljistään jäniskin tunnetaan (literally “a hare is known by its tracks”)
French: chassez le naturel, il revient au galop (fr) (literally “drive off character, it comes back galloping”), on ne se refait pas (fr)
Georgian: კუზიანს სამარე გაასწორებსო (ḳuzians samare gaasc̣orebso)
German: die Katze lässt das Mausen nicht (de) (literally “a cat won't stop chasing mice”)
Greek: ο λύκος κι αν εγέρασε κι άσπρισε το μαλλί του, μήτε τη γνώμη άλλαξε, μήτε την κεφαλή του (o lýkos ki an egérase ki ásprise to mallí tou, míte ti gnómi állaxe, míte tin kefalí tou, literally “Even though the wolf got old and his hair became white, he changed neither his opinion nor his head”) (about old age)
Hebrew: הֲיַהֲפֹךְ כּוּשִׁי עוֹרוֹ וְנָמֵר חֲבַרְבֻּרֹתָיו (hayahafókh kúshi 'oró venamer ḥabarbburotav, literally “Will a Cushite change his skin and a leopard his spots?”)
Hungarian: kutyából nem lesz szalonna (hu) (literally “out of a dog there will be no lard”)
Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
Ido: please add this translation if you can
Indonesian: rupa boleh berubah, tabiat dibawa mati
Irish: briseann an dúchas trí shúile an chait, is treise dúchas ná oiliúint
Italian: il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio (literally “the wolf can lose its fur but not its bad habits”), chi nasce tondo non può morire quadrato (literally “who was born round can't die square”)
Japanese: 三つ子の魂百まで (ja) (mitsugo no tamashii hyaku made, literally “the soul of a child of three is the same at 100”)
Kannada: please add this translation if you can
Khmer: ខ្មែរមិនចោលក្បួន យួនមិនចោលពុត (kmae mɨn caol kbuən yuən mɨn caol put)
Korean: 제 버릇 개 못 준다 (je beoreut gae mot junda), 제 버릇 개 줄까 (ko) (je beoreut gae julkka), 개 버릇 남 주나 (gae beoreut nam juna)
Latin: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: vilku gimęs, vilku ir dvės
Macedonian: волкот влакно менува, нарав никогаш (volkot vlakno menuva, narav nikogaš, literally “the wolf changes his hair, but never his disposition”)
Malay:
Jawi: ججق بوليه دهيلڠکن, بلڠ باݢايمان دهيلڠکن؟, روڤا بوليه دأوبه, طبيعة دباوا ماتي, ايکتن بوليه دأوبه, تاکوق باݢايمان دأوبه, سوکر اونتوق ملوروسکن ايکور انجيڠ, ايکور انجيڠ دلوروت, تيدق لوروس جوݢ

Rumi: jejak boleh dihilangkan, belang bagaimana dihilangkan?, rupa boleh diubah, tabiat dibawa mati, ikatan boleh diubah, takuk bagaimana diubah?, sukar untuk meluruskan ekor anjing, ekor anjing dilurut, tidak lurus juga, habis minyak sepasu, ekor anjing diurut tiada lurus
Maltese: please add this translation if you can
Persian: لا تبدیل لخلق الله (lâ tabdila lexalqe-llah) (rare)
Polish: natura ciągnie wilka do lasu (pl)
Portuguese: o leopardo não pode mudar suas manchas, pode o etíope mudar a sua pele ou o leopardo as suas manchas?
Romanian: lupul își schimbă părul, dar năravul ba
Russian: волк ка́ждый год линя́ет, а всё сер быва́ет (volk káždyj god linjájet, a vsjo ser byvájet, literally “each year the wolf molts its fur, but it continues to be grey”), ско́лько во́лка ни корми́, он всё в лес смо́трит (skólʹko vólka ni kormí, on vsjo v les smótrit, literally “however good you feed the wolf, it still looks onto the forest”), горба́того моги́ла испра́вит (ru) (gorbátovo mogíla isprávit, literally “only the grave can straighten the hunchback”), чёрного кобеля́ не отмо́ешь добела́ (čórnovo kobeljá ne otmóješʹ dobelá, literally “you can’t wash a black dog to make it white”), зарека́лась лиса́ кур не ворова́ть (zarekálasʹ lisá kur ne vorovátʹ, literally “the fox promised not to steal chickens”)
Scottish Gaelic: an car a bha san t-seana mhaide 's duilich a thoirt às (literally “the twist which is in the old stick is difficult to take out”)
Serbo-Croatian: vuk dlaku mijenja, ali ćud nikada (literally “a wolf sheds his coat, but never his temper”)
Spanish: genio y figura hasta la sepultura (es) (literally “genius and player until (the) burial”), no hay que pedir peras al olmo (literally “there's no use demanding pears from an elm”), la cabra siempre tira al monte (es) (literally “the goat always goes to the mountain”), quien nace lechón muere cochino (literally “who is born piglet, dies as pig”)
Swedish: ränderna går aldrig ur (literally “the stripes never go out”)
Tagalog: ang kabayo ay bigyan man ng asukal at tinapay, sapilitang aayawan, humahanap din ng kumpay (literally “the horse if given sugar and bread will forcefully refuse and will look for fodder”)
Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: can çıkar huy çıkmaz (tr), huylu huyundan vazgeçmez
Ukrainian: горбатого могила виправить (horbatoho mohyla vypravytʹ)
Vietnamese: ngựa quen đường cũ (vi) (literally “the horse goes back to the old road”), giang sơn dễ đổi, bản tính khó dời (vi) (literally “nature changes, one's nature barely does”)
Welsh: a newidia y llewpard ei frychni?
Yiddish: אַ חזיר בלײַבט אַ חזיר (a khazer blaybt a khazer, literally “a pig remains a pig”)

References

The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, →OCLC, Jeremiah 13:23, column 1.: “Can the Ethiopian change his ſkinne? or the leopard his ſpots?”

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[1] The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, →OCLC, Jeremiah 13:23, column 1.: “Can the Ethiopian change his ſkinne? or the leopard his ſpots?”

a leopard cannot change its spots

English

Etymology

Proverb

Synonyms

Translations

See also

References