parakeet English · revision 794

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈpaɹəkiːt/, /ˌpaɹəˈkiːt/ ''(UK)''; /ˈpɛɹəkit/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|periquito]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) probably a diminutive of ''Perico'', a familiar form of ''Pedro'' “Peter”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) An earlier form, ''parroket'' (1581), is [[bor|frm|paroquet]], ''perroquet'',^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MW Collegiate) perhaps likewise from a diminutive of ''Pierre'' “Peter”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) though French etymologists derive it from Italian ''parrocchetto'', literally “little priest”, or from a diminutive of ''parrucca'' “periwig”, alluding to the head plumage.^(Etymonline) The OED holds that the relation between the Spanish and Italian forms cannot be settled, and that popular etymology has probably modified the name.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A bird of the parrot kind (1581, as ''parroket'').^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Three forms competed in the 16th and 17th centuries: ''parroket'', ''paraquito'' and ''parakeet'', the last an anglicized form (1621 in Barnhart).^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1995) The word is now applied especially to the smaller, long-tailed parrots.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) From 1596 it was used allusively of chattering or gaily dressed people.^(OED 1989) The pet parakeet of the United States is called a ''budgie'' or ''budgerigar'' in Commonwealth countries.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1581 – ''parroket''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1596 – of a chattering person.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1621 – ''parakeet'', from Spanish.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of various small, slender [[parrot|alt=parrots]] with long, tapering tails, often kept as pets; a [[budgerigar]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Carolina parakeet]]

+ * [[monk parakeet]]

+ * [[shell parakeet]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[parrot]]

+ * [[budgerigar]]

+ * [[Peter]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}