parakeet

American  

[par-uh-keet] / ˈpær əˌkit /

Also paraquet, or parrakeet

noun

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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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

Humans exterminated the passenger pigeon, the great auk and the Carolina parakeet.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

“We sent them with one of my parakeet messengers, but they came back unopened. You weren’t at the old address anymore. By then, she’d already gone to the Forever Gardens.”

From Literature

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

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati discovered that monk parakeets meeting unfamiliar birds tend to "test the waters" before deciding whether a potential partner is safe to approach.

From Science Daily