psittacine, a. (n.)
(ˈsɪtəkaɪn, ˈpsɪtəsaɪn)
[a. mod.L. subfamily name Psittacinæ, f. generic name Psittacus (Linnæus Systema Naturæ (1735)), a. L. psittacus parrot: see -ine1.]
A. adj. Of or belonging to a parrot or to the parrot family; fig. parrot-like. B. n. A bird of this family.
| 1874 Proc. Zool. Soc. 592 Many deductions can be made as to the mutual relations of the several genera of the Psittacine suborder. 1888 Sat. Rev. 22 Sept. 343/2 The glibness of these psittacine politicians. 1890 A. B. Meyer in Ibis Jan. 26 On the Coloration of the Young in the Psittacine Genus Eclectus. 1895 Athenæum 16 Mar. 348/3 Showing that it was completely psittacine. 1901 Trans. Linn. Soc: Zool. VIII. 257 It is possible to derive the Psittacine type as a very apocentric modification of this metacentre. 1973 Observer 4 Nov. 5/3 Medical evidence and a growing suspicion..are adding urgency to demands..that import restrictions should be placed on the ‘psittacines’. 1976 Amer. Speech 1973 XLVIII. 265 The psittacine linguistic and cultural relativity with which the argument begins is a very dead duck at the argument's conclusion. |