parrot

Etymology

First attested in 1525. From Middle French perrot, either a diminutive of Pierre or a shortened form of perroquet (whence also parakeet). Compare French pierrot and Occitan parrat. A number of origins have been suggested for perroquet, such as Spanish periquito and Italian parrocchetto. The relationship between these various words is disputed. Replaced earlier popinjay.

noun

1. A kind of bird, many species of which are colorful and able to mimic human speech, of the order Psittaciformes or (narrowly) of the family Psittacidae.
   I bought a wonderful parrot at the pet store.
2. (figurative) A parroter; a person who repeats the words or ideas of others.
   What kind of a parrot are you? He just said that.
   In this distribution of functions, the scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state, he is, Man Thinking. In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men’s thinking. 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson, The American Scholar
3. (archaic) A puffin.
4. (geology, obsolete) channel coal.
5. (aviation, slang) A transponder.

verb

1. (transitive) To repeat (exactly what has just been said) without necessarily showing understanding, in the manner of a parrot.
   The interviewee merely parroted the views of her tabloid.
   So when political leaders parrot the tobacco company line, say cigarettes are not necessarily addictive, and oppose our efforts to keep tobacco away from our children, they continue to cater to powerful interests, but they're not standing up for parents and children. 15 June 1996, Bill Clinton, Presidential Radio Address
   While interviewing officers, some prosecutors will tell them what the law will require that he, the prosecutor, establish through his witnesses. The officer-witness will then parrot back those requirements, making his testimony fit the requirements of the law. 1999 January, Larry Cunningham, “Taking on Testilying”, in Criminal Justice Ethics, volume 18, →DOI, pages 26–40