# parrot

Pronunciation: say "PA-ruht" /ˈpæɹət/

## Noun

1. A bird of the order Psittaciformes, typically brightly colored, with a curved bill, and in many species able to mimic human speech.
   - Simple: A colorful bird with a curved beak that can often copy the sounds of human speech.
   - _A gray parrot at the sanctuary greets visitors by name._
   - _Escaped parrots have established wild flocks in several American cities._
3. A person who repeats the words or ideas of others.
   - Simple: A person who repeats the words or ideas of other people.
   - _Critics dismissed the columnist as a parrot for the administration._
   - _The debate stage was full of parrots echoing their parties' talking points._
4. An aircraft transponder: the device that automatically answers radar signals with an identifying code. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A radio device on a plane that sends out a code so radar can tell which plane it is.
   - _Approach control asked the crew to recycle the parrot after the code dropped off the scope._
   - _Military pilots strangle the parrot before entering certain training areas._

## Verb

2. To repeat what has just been said, exactly and without necessarily understanding it.
   - Simple: To repeat someone's words exactly without really understanding them.
   - _Students who merely parrot the textbook rarely do well on essay questions._
   - _The spokesperson parroted the official line about the merger word for word._

## Noun

5. A puffin; a stout black-and-white seabird with a large, brightly colored bill. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A puffin, a small black-and-white sea bird with a large, colorful beak.
   - _The boatman pointed out a parrot bobbing on the swell, its striped bill packed with small fish._
   - _Each spring the islanders gathered eggs where the parrots burrowed along the cliff tops._
6. A compact, fine-grained coal, also called channel coal, that ignites readily and burns with a bright, crackling flame. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A kind of coal that lights easily and burns with a bright flame.
   - _The old pit sold most of its parrot to the gasworks in town._
   - _Miners prized a seam that carried a foot of parrot above the ordinary coal._

## Origin

First attested in 1525, from Middle French 'perrot', either a diminutive of Pierre or a shortened form of 'perroquet' (which also gave 'parakeet'). Various origins have been suggested for 'perroquet', including Spanish 'periquito' and Italian 'parrocchetto', but the relationship between these words is disputed. It replaced the earlier word 'popinjay'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/parrot (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).