don't count your chickens before they're hatched
don't count your chickens before they're hatched proverb: one should not depend upon a favorable (and typically overoptimistic) outcome to one's plans until it is certain to occur.
Proverb
don't count your chickens before they're hatched
- One should not depend upon a favorable (and typically overoptimistic) outcome to one's plans until it is certain to occur.
- [...] Make Fools believe in their fore-seeing / Of things before they are in Being; / To swallow Gudgeons ere th' are catch'd, / And count their Chickens ere th' are hatch'd, [...][1663 (indicated as 1664), [Samuel Butler], “The Second Part of Hudibras. Canto III.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678...
don't count your chickens before they're hatched meaning in Hindi, Telugu, Arabic and Persian
don't count your chickens before they're hatched in Hindi
- one should not depend upon a favorable outcome to one's plans until it is certain to occur
- सूत न कपास जुलाहों में लट्ठम-लट्ठा sūt na kapās julāhõ mẽ laṭṭham-laṭṭhā
don't count your chickens before they're hatched in Telugu
- one should not depend upon a favorable outcome to one's plans until it is certain to occur
- ఆలు లేదు, చూలు లేదు, కొడుకు పేరు సోమలింగము ālu lēdu, cūlu lēdu, koḍuku pēru sōmaliṅgamu
don't count your chickens before they're hatched in Arabic
- one should not depend upon a favorable outcome to one's plans until it is certain to occur
- لَا تَشْتَرِي ٱلسَّمَكَ وَهُوَ فِي ٱلْبَحْرِ بَلِ ٱنْتَظِرْ حَتَّى يُصْطَادَ lā taštarī s-samaka wahuwa fī l-baḥri bali ntaẓir ḥattā yuṣṭāda
don't count your chickens before they're hatched in Persian
- one should not depend upon a favorable outcome to one's plans until it is certain to occur
- جوجه رو آخر پاییز می شمارند
More languagesFewer languages
- don't count your chickens before they're hatched in Thai
- สงครามยังไม่จบ อย่าเพิ่งนับศพทหาร
- don't count your chickens before they're hatched in Vietnamese
- đếm cua trong lỗ
Synonyms of don't count your chickens before they're hatched
Forms of don't count your chickens before they're hatched
| alternative form | don't count your chickens before the eggs have hatched |
|---|---|
| alternative form | don't count your chickens before they hatch |
| alternative form | don't count your chickens before they've hatched |
| alternative form | don't count your chicks before they hatch |
| alternative form | don't count your chicks before they're hatched |
| alternative form | don't count your chickens |
| alternative form | don't count your chicks |
Origin of don't count your chickens before they're hatched
First attested in English in Thomas Howell's 1570 New Sonnets and Pretty Pamphlets in the couplet "Counte not thy Chickens that vnhatched be, / Waye wordes as winde, till thou finde certaintee", possibly deriving from similar medieval and early modern Latin fables and maxims.
Questions about don't count your chickens before they're hatched
- What does don't count your chickens before they're hatched mean?
- Don't count your chickens before they're hatched means one should not depend upon a favorable (and typically overoptimistic) outcome to one's plans until it is certain to occur.
- What is don't count your chickens before they're hatched in Hindi?
- Don't count your chickens before they're hatched in Hindi is सूत न कपास जुलाहों में लट्ठम-लट्ठा (sūt na kapās julāhõ mẽ laṭṭham-laṭṭhā). See Don't count your chickens before they're hatched meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is don't count your chickens before they're hatched?
- Don't count your chickens before they're hatched is a proverb.
Words near don't count your chickens before they're hatched in the dictionary
- don't call us, we'll call you
- don't cha
- don't change a winning team
- don't count your chickens
- don't count your chickens before the eggs have hatched
- don't count your chickens before they're hatched
- don't count your chickens before they've hatched
- don't count your chicks
- don't count your chicks before they hatch
- don't count your chicks before they're hatched
- don't cry for me, Argentina
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: don't count your chickens before they're hatched (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-don't count your chickens before they're hatched.wav.
Cite this entry: “don't count your chickens before they're hatched.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/don%27t_count_your_chickens_before_they%27re_hatched. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.