noun
- any of numerous hook-billed, often brilliantly colored birds of the order Psittaciformes, as the cockatoo, lory, macaw, or parakeet, having the ability to mimic speech and often kept as pets.
- a person who, without thought or understanding, merely repeats the words or imitates the actions of another.
verb (used with object)
- to repeat or imitate without thought or understanding.
- to teach to repeat or imitate in such a fashion.
noun
- any bird of the tropical and subtropical order Psittaciformes, having a short hooked bill, compact body, bright plumage, and an ability to mimic soundsRelated adjective: psittacine
- a person who repeats or imitates the words or actions of another unintelligently
- sick as a parrot usually facetious extremely disappointed
verb -rots, -roting or -roted
- (tr) to repeat or imitate mechanically without understanding
v.“repeat without understanding,” 1590s, from parrot (n.). Related: Parroted; parroting. 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.