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popinjay.

A parrot.

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈpɒpɪnd͡ʒeɪ/UK/ˈpɑpənˌd͡ʒeɪ/US
  1. A parrot.

  2. A decorative image of a parrot on a tapestry, cloth etc.

    obsolete
  3. A vain, gaudy person; someone who is shallow or superficial.

    dated
  4. A target to shoot at, typically stuffed with feathers or plumage.

  5. The green woodpecker, Picus viridis.

    UK
Where this word comes from

From Middle English popinjay, popyngeay, popingay, popejay, from Anglo-Norman papegai, papejoie et al., (northern) Old French papejai (“parrot”), probably from Old Occitan papagay (compare Occitan papagai, Catalan papagai), ultimately from Arabic بَبْغَاء (babḡāʔ, “parrot”), of imitative origin.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.