parrot

CEFRA2

/ˈpæɹət/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
noun
A colorful bird able to copy human speech.
02
verb
To repeat words without understanding them.

Examples

A parrot can mimic a person's voice.
Jack keeps a cat and a parrot at home.

At a glance

Sits at A2 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 2
Citations: 5
Synonyms: 5

Also pronounced

/ˈpaɹət/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

A parroter; a person who repeats the words or ideas of others.
A puffin.
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.

More examples

In context

I bought a wonderful parrot at the pet store.
The interviewee merely parroted the views of her tabloid.
What kind of a parrot are you? He just said that.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The colorful blank repeated every word its owner said in a high voice.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

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.
1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, “Mrs. Merdle’s Complaint”, in Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC, 1st book (Poverty), page 290
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.
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
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.
1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar
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.
1996 June 15, Bill Clinton, Presidential Radio Address
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.
1999 January, Larry Cunningham, “Taking on Testilying”, in Criminal Justice Ethics, volume 18, →DOI, pages 26–40

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Origin

noun

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.

Deep Dive

noun

More examples

Related

Quick test

The colorful blank— repeated every word its owner said in a high voice.

Nearby

Origin

noun

The colorful blank repeated every word its owner said in a high voice.