parrot
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Parrot
Etymology
First attested in 1525. From Middle French perrot, either a diminutive of Pierre or a shortened form of perroquet (whence also parakeet). 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
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: părʹət, IPA(key): /ˈpæɹət/
- (General American) enPR: părʹət, IPA(key): /ˈpæɹət/, /ˈpɛɹət/
Audio (General American, Mary–marry–merry merger): (file) - Hyphenation: par‧rot
- Rhymes: -æɹət
Noun
parrot (plural parrots)
- A kind of bird, many species of which are colorful 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.
- 1969 December 7, “Full Frontal Nudity”, in Monty Python's Flying Circus, season 1, episode 8, spoken by Mr Praline (John Cleese), Dead Parrot sketch:
- This parrot is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to see its maker. This is a late parrot. It's a stiff. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies. It's run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot.
- (figurative) A parroter; a person who repeats the words or ideas of others.
- 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.
- (archaic) A puffin.
- Synonyms: sea-parrot, tomnoddy
- (geology, obsolete) channel coal.
- (aviation, slang) A transponder.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
- amazon parrot
- antbed parrot
- antbed parrot moth
- black-headed parrot
- blood parrot
- blood parrotfish
- burrowing parrot
- cockatoo parrot
- eclectus parrot
- elegant parrot
- fig parrot
- golden-shouldered parrot
- grass parrot
- hanging parrot
- hawk-headed parrot
- hooded parrot
- king parrot
- monk parrot
- mountain parrot
- night parrot
- orange-bellied parrot
- orange-winged parrot
- owl parrot
- paradise parrot
- parrot and monkey time
- parrot-billed sparrow (Passer gongonensis)
- parrotbill (Paradoxornithidae spp.)
- parrot bush (Banksia sessilis)
- parrot coal
- parrot crossbill (Loxia pytyopsittacus)
- parrot cry
- parrot disease
- parroter
- parrotese
- parrot feather
- parrot fever
- parrotfinch
- parrotfish
- parrot flower (Alstroemeria psittacina)
- parrot green
- parrothouse
- parrotless
- parrotlet
- parrotlike
- parrot lily (Alstroemeria psittacina)
- parrotling
- parrot pitcher plant (Sarracenia psittacina)
- parrot's beak orchid (Pterostylis nutans)
- parrot's bill
- parrot snake
- parrot toadstool (Hygrocybe psittacina)
- parrot-toed
- parrot waxcap (Hygrocybe psittacina)
- parrot weed
- parroty
- Pesquet's parrot
- pissed as a parrot
- Quaker parrot
- red-capped parrot
- red-fan parrot
- red-winged parrot
- sea-parrot
- sea parrot
- short-tailed parrot
- sick as a parrot
- stochastic parrot
- strangle the parrot
- superb parrot
- swift parrot
- turquoise parrot
- vulturine parrot
Translations
kind of bird
|
person who repeats what was said
|
puffin — see puffin
channel coal — see channel coal
transponder — see transponder
See also
Verb
parrot (third-person singular simple present parrots, present participle parroting, simple past and past participle parroted or parrotted)
- (transitive) To repeat (exactly what has just been said) without necessarily showing understanding, in the manner of a parrot.
- The interviewee merely parroted the views of her tabloid.
- 1996 June 15, Bill Clinton, Presidential Radio Address:
- 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.
- 1999 January, Larry Cunningham, “Taking on Testilying”, in Criminal Justice Ethics, volume 18, , pages 26–40:
- While interviewing officers, some prosecutors will tell them what the law will require that he, the prosecutor, establish through his witnesses. The officer-witness will then parrot back those requirements, making his testimony fit the requirements of the law.
Quotations
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:parrot.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
to repeat exactly without showing understanding
|
Anagrams
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