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

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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 )

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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

At Morriston Park in Swansea, near his home, the then nine-year-old ticked off sparrows, starlings, blue tits…but surely not a ring-necked parakeet, external?

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2023

In a birdcage by the window, a green parakeet, the last surviving member of my grandparents’ former aviary, was moving back and forth on its balsa wood perch.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

Fish and Wildlife Service $3,262 to cover the care and quarantine of the parakeets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 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

The sound was like the muffled jabber of parakeets.

From "The Stranger" by Albert Camus

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