parrot
/ˈpæɹət/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.49 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
verb
To repeat (exactly what has just been said) without necessarily showing understanding, in the manner of a parrot.
Transitive verb
name
A surname transferred from the given name.
Example Sentences
- "I bought a wonderful parrot at the pet store."
- "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."
- "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."
- "What kind of a parrot are you? He just said that."
- "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."
- "The interviewee merely parroted the views of her tabloid."
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.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpæɹət/
- British English: /ˈpæɹət/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
amazon parrot
antbed parrot
antbed parrot moth
black-headed parrot
blood parrot
blood parrotfish
Bourke's parrot
Brehm's ground parrot