parrot

/ˈpɛrət/

/ˈpærət/

Other forms: parrots; parroting; parroted

A parrot is a brightly colored tropical bird with a distinctly loud voice. If you see someone calling a colorful bird "Polly" and asking it if it wants a cracker, that's a parrot.

Parrots are popular pets because many of them have the ability to mimic sounds they hear, sometimes including human speech. In fact, this skill has led to a secondary meaning of the word parrot, "mimic mindlessly." You could say, for example, "I'm not going to just parrot everything the teacher says — I'm no parrot." The origin of the word is uncertain, although we know that before parrot, this bird was called a popinjay.

Definitions of parrot

1. noun

   usually brightly colored zygodactyl tropical birds with short hooked beaks and the ability to mimic sounds
   types:

   popinjay

   an archaic term for a parrot

   poll, poll parrot

   a tame parrot

   African gray, African grey, Psittacus erithacus

   commonly domesticated grey parrot with red-and-black tail and white face; native to equatorial Africa

   amazon

   mainly green tropical American parrots

   macaw

   long-tailed brilliantly colored parrot of Central America and South America; among the largest and showiest of parrots

   Nestor notabilis, kea

   large brownish-green New Zealand parrot

   cockatoo

   white or light-colored crested parrot of the Australian region; often kept as cage birds

   Nymphicus hollandicus, cockateel, cockatiel, cockatoo parrot

   small grey Australian parrot with a yellow crested head

   lovebird

   small African parrot noted for showing affection for their mates

   lory

   small brightly colored Australasian parrots having a brush-tipped tongue for feeding on nectar and soft fruits

   parakeet, paraquet, paroquet, parrakeet, parroket, parroquet

   any of numerous small slender long-tailed parrots

   Cacatua galerita, Kakatoe galerita, sulphur-crested cockatoo

   white cockatoo with a yellow erectile crest

   Kakatoe leadbeateri, pink cockatoo

   white Australian cockatoo with roseate tinged plumage

   lorikeet

   any of various small lories

   Carolina parakeet, Conuropsis carolinensis

   extinct parakeet whose range extended far into the United States

   Melopsittacus undulatus, budgereegah, budgerigar, budgerygah, budgie, grass parakeet, lovebird, shell parakeet

   small Australian parakeet usually light green with black and yellow markings in the wild but bred in many colors

   Psittacula krameri, ring-necked parakeet

   African parakeet

   type of:

   bird

   warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings
2. noun

   a copycat who does not understand the words or acts being imitated
   type of:

   ape, aper, copycat, emulator, imitator

   someone who copies the words or behavior of another
3. verb

   repeat mindlessly
   “The students parroted the teacher's words”

   type of:

   echo, repeat

   to say again or imitate