parrot

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See also: Parrot

English

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A parrot.

Etymology

First attested in 1525. From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French perrot, either a diminutive of Pierre or a shortened form of perroquet. Compare French pierrot and Occitan parrat. A number of origins have been suggested for perroquet, such as Spanish periquito and Italian parrocchetto. The relationship between these various words is disputed. Replaced earlier popinjay.

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GenAm" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: părʹət, IPA(key): /ˈpæɹət/, /ˈpɛɹət/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. enPR: părʹət, IPA(key): /ˈpæɹət/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -æɹət
  • Hyphenation: par‧rot

Noun

parrot (plural parrots)

  1. A kind of bird, many species of which are colourful and able to mimic human speech, of the order Psittaciformes or (narrowly) of the family Psittacidae.
    Synonyms: (bird of the order Psittaciformes) psittacine, popinjay
    I bought a wonderful parrot at the pet store.
    • 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, “Mrs. Merdle’s Complaint”, in Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC, book the first (Poverty), page 290:
      Mrs. Merdle was at home, and was in her nest of crimson and gold, with the parrot on a neighbouring stem watching her with his head on one side, as if he took her for another splendid parrot of a larger species.
  2. (figurative) A parroter; a person who repeats the words or ideas of others.
    Synonyms: copycat, mimic
    What kind of a parrot are you? He just said that.
    • 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar,
      In this distribution of functions, the scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state, he is, Man Thinking. In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men’s thinking.
  3. (archaic) A puffin.
    Synonyms: sea-parrot, tomnoddy
  4. (geology, obsolete) Channel coal.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

puffin — see puffin
channel coal — see channel coal

See also

Verb

parrot (third-person singular simple present parrots, present participle parroting, simple past and past participle parroted or parrotted)

  1. (transitive) To repeat (exactly what has just been said) without necessarily showing understanding, in the manner of a parrot.
    • 1996, Bill Clinton, Presidential Radio Address (15 June)
      So when political leaders parrot the tobacco company line, say cigarettes are not necessarily addictive, and oppose our efforts to keep tobacco away from our children, they continue to cater to powerful interests, but they're not standing up for parents and children.
    The interviewee merely parroted the views of her tabloid.

Quotations

Synonyms

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Translations

Anagrams

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