parrot
pronunciation
How to pronounce parrot in British English:
UK [ˈpærət]
How to pronounce parrot in American English:
US [ˈpærət]
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- Noun:
- usually brightly colored zygodactyl tropical birds with short hooked beaks and the ability to mimic sounds
- a copycat who does not understand the words or acts being imitated
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- Verb:
- repeat mindlessly
Word Origin
- parrot
- parrot: [16] The original English name for the ‘parrot’ was popinjay [13] (whose ultimate source, Arabic babaghā, probably arose as an imitation of the parrot’s call). But in the early 16th century this began to be replaced by parrot, which seems to have originated (like its close relative parakeet) in French as a diminutive form of the name Pierre ‘Peter’.
- parrot (n.)
- 1520s, of uncertain origin, perhaps from dialectal Middle French perrot, from a variant of Pierre "Peter;" or perhaps a dialectal form of perroquet (see parakeet). Replaced earlier popinjay. The German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt in South America in 1800 encountered a very old parrot that was the sole speaker of a dead Indian language, the original tribe having gone extinct.
- parrot (v.)
- "repeat without understanding," 1590s, from parrot (n.). Related: Parroted; parroting.
Example
- 1. The man was surprised by the parrot 's response .
- 2. The parrot cry is that economic migrants and asylum seekers should be strictly separated .
- 3. He pointedly said that russian officials parrot qaddafi 's inflated casualty figures and take them at face value .
- 4. I once got drunk and had sex with a parrot .
- 5. The parrot was fully grown with a very bad attitude and worse vocabulary .