any of numerous large, noisy, crested parrots of the genera Cacatua, Callocephalon, Calyptorhynchus, etc., of the Australasian region, having chiefly white plumage tinged with yellow, pink, or red: popular as a pet.
2.
Australian.
a.
a person who owns and works a small farm or ranch.
b.
Slang. a lookout posted by criminals or the operators of illegal gambling games.
Origin: 1610–20; < D kaketoe < Malay kakatua, perh. etymologizing alter. of Central Moluccan jaka any psittacine bird, by assoc. with Malay kakak sibling, kakak tua older sibling); sp. copies cock1
cock·a·too (kŏk'ə-tōō') n.
pl.cock·a·toos Any of various large parrots, especially of the genus Kakatoe of Australia and adjacent areas, characterized by a long erectile crest.
1616, from Du. kaketoe, from Malay kakatua, possibly echoic, or from kakak "elder brother or sister" + tua "old." Also cockatiel (1880), from Du. dim. kaketielje (1850), which is perhaps influenced by Portuguese.