parrot: [16] The original English name for the ‘parrot’ was popinjay [13] (whose ultimate source, Arabic babaghā, probably arose as an imitation of the parrot’s call). But in the early 16th century this began to be replaced by parrot, which seems to have originated (like its close relative parakeet) in French as a diminutive form of the name Pierre ‘Peter’.
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.
parrot (v.)
"repeat without understanding," 1590s, from parrot (n.). Related: Parroted; parroting.
雙語(yǔ)例句
1. Generations of students have learnt to parrot the standard explanations.