parakeet

American  

[par-uh-keet] / ˈpær əˌkit /

Also paraquet, or parrakeet

noun

• parakeets
  plural

1. 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.

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parakeet British  

/ ˈpærəˌkiːt /

noun

1. any of numerous small usually brightly coloured long-tailed parrots, such as Psittacula krameri ( ring-necked parakeet ), of Africa

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• parakeets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of parakeet

1575–85; from Middle French paroquet “parrot,” apparently originally a diminutive of P(i)errot, diminutive of Pierre “Peter,” as a name for a parrot; the modern form and its earlier variants have been influenced by Italian parrocchetto and Spanish periquito (both ultimately from Middle French )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

parakeet parakeets

The super breeders saving their endangered parakeet species.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026

Along with the passenger pigeon we exterminated the great auk, the Carolina parakeet, the Labrador duck and the ivory-billed woodpecker.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026

These are thought crimes, but they are discovered through dress, accessories, and gesture: a bow, belt, hand, or parakeet on a discrete and defined bump.

From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2025

Supporters of the kakariki karaka - a green parakeet - put up billboards reading: "Dear John, don't disrupt the pecking order".

From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2023

Because even when Flora's father was thinking that things were hilarious, even when he was talking like a parakeet, he still, apparently, did not believe in speeding.

From "Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures" by Kate DiCamillo

He goes by, tells her the parakeets are like “flying candy.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

Officers searched him and found two emaciated and potentially sedated orange-fronted parakeets — the victims of an alleged botched smuggling attempt — stuffed in his underwear, according to court documents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026

"I started observing the parakeets shortly before I moved to Cincinnati to start graduate school," she said.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 23, 2025

This is true for a veritable zoo of nonhuman creatures, including horses, parakeets, monkeys, and lizards, who all see the illusion as well.

From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2025

Or it might be birds that caught my attention: pink flamingos or black swans or one-wattled cassowaries, or something smaller, silver diamond doves, Cape glossy starlings, peach-faced lovebirds, Nanday conures, orange-fronted parakeets.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel