a small bird of the parrot family, usually with a long tail Topics Birdsc2长尾鹦鹉 Word Originmid 16th cent.: from Old French paroquet, Italian parrocchetto, and Spanish periquito; origin uncertain, perhaps (via Italian) based on a diminutive meaning ‘little wig’, referring to head plumage, or (via Spanish) based on a diminutive of the given name Pedro.