parakeet - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

par·a·keet

Audio Help [par-uh-keet] Pronunciation Key

–noun

any of numerous small, slender parrots, usually having a long, pointed, graduated tail, often kept as pets and noted for the ability to mimic speech: several species are endangered.

Also, paraquet, paroquet, parrakeet, parroket, parroquet.

[Origin: 1575–85; < MF paroquet parrot, appar. orig. a dim. of P(i)errot, dim. of Pierre Peter, as a name for a parrot; the modern form and its earlier vars. have been influenced by It parrocchetto and Sp periquito (both ult. < MF)

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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parakeet

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

par·a·keet Audio Help (pār'ə-kēt') Pronunciation Key
n. Any of various small slender parrots, usually having long tapering tails and often kept as pets.

[Spanish periquito, probably diminutive of Perico, diminutive of Pedro, Peter.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
parakeet

1621, from Sp. perquito; earlier Eng. form parroket (1581) is from M.Fr. paroquet, from O.Fr. paroquet (14c.), which is said by etymologists of Fr. to be from It. parrocchetto, lit. "little priest," from parroco "parish priest," from Church L. parochus (see parish), or parrucchetto, dim. of parrucca "peruke, periwig," in ref. to the head plumage. The Sp. form, meanwhile, is sometimes said to be a dim. of Perico, familiar form of Pedro "Peter," and the O.Fr. word is likewise perhaps from or infl. by a dim. of Pierre "Peter." The relations of the Sp. and It. forms, and the influence of folk etymology on either or both, are uncertain.

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