parrot
[par-uh t]
- any of numerous hook-billed, often brilliantly colored birds of the order Psittaciformes, as the cockatoo, lory, macaw, or parakeet, having the ability to mimic speech and often kept as pets.
- a person who, without thought or understanding, merely repeats the words or imitates the actions of another.
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- to repeat or imitate without thought or understanding.
- to teach to repeat or imitate in such a fashion.
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Origin of parrot
1515–25; apparently < Middle French P(i)errot, diminutive of Pierre (see parakeet), though a comparable sense of the French word is not known until the 18th century
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for parroting
Contemporary Examples
This requires not just teaching to the test and not just parroting critiques.
Over there, “journalists,” such as they are, literally survive by parroting the government.
Meet the Censors, Propagandists and Outright Liars Who Won Putin’s PulitzersJames Kirchick
May 5, 2014
Some of what they said sounded like a rhetorical, if earnest, parroting of notions they'd heard from teachers.
They are parroting the old party line that always puts special interests ahead of the national interest.
Parroting another government line, the article raises the specter of a Russian intervention if postelection unrest flares.
Historical Examples
"My translator is working badly," the voice of the elder was parroting.
The Ties That BindWalter Miller
She was conscious of parroting the current phrases of the newspapers, but it was no time to pick and choose her words.
Between The Dark And The DaylightWilliam Dean Howells
The King made a few screen appearances, parroting things Makann wanted him to say.
Space VikingHenry Beam Piper
One of my draft is killed and five wounded and here everyone is parroting about a Merry Christmas.
Letters from MesopotamiaRobert Palmer
Later he put it into Altrurian, and I memorized it, and made myself immensely popular by parroting it.
Through the Eye of the NeedleWilliam Dean Howells
parrot
- any bird of the tropical and subtropical order Psittaciformes, having a short hooked bill, compact body, bright plumage, and an ability to mimic soundsRelated adjective: psittacine
- a person who repeats or imitates the words or actions of another unintelligently
- sick as a parrot usually facetious extremely disappointed
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- (tr) to repeat or imitate mechanically without understanding
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Word Origin
C16: probably from French paroquet; see parakeet
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for parroting
parrot
v.
"repeat without understanding," 1590s, from parrot (n.). Related: Parroted; parroting.
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parrot
n.
1520s, of uncertain origin, perhaps from dialectal Middle French perrot, from a variant of Pierre "Peter;" or perhaps a dialectal form of perroquet (see parakeet). Replaced earlier popinjay. The German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt in South America in 1800 encountered a very old parrot that was the sole speaker of a dead Indian language, the original tribe having gone extinct.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper