pappagallo

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pap.paˈɡal.lo/
  • Rhymes: -allo
  • Hyphenation: pap‧pa‧gàl‧lo

Etymology 1

From Byzantine Greek παπαγᾶς (papagâs), from Arabic بَبَغَاء (babaḡāʔ), of onomatopoeic origin. Influenced by gallo (rooster). Cognate with German Papagei, Sicilian pappagaḍḍu-pappajaḍḍu, Spanish papagayo, and English popinjay.

Noun

pappagallo m (plural pappagalli)

  1. parrot
  2. (slang) wolf (man who makes amorous advances to many women)
  3. (colloquial) parrot (a person who repeats others' words and phrases without understanding them)
    fare il pappagallo
    play the parrot
    ripetere tutto come un pappagallo
    repeat everything like a parrot
  4. a bottlelike bedpan for urination only; a bed urinal
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Albanian: papagall
  • Greek: παπαγάλος m (papagálos)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

pappagallo

  1. first-person singular present indicative of pappagallare

Further reading

  • Colonna, Barbara (1997) Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, Newton Compton