budgerigar

[ buhj-uh-ree-gahr, -er-i- ]

1. an Australian parakeet, Melopsittacus undulatus, having greenish plumage with black and yellow markings, bred as a pet in a variety of colors.

budgerigar

/ ˈbʌdʒərɪˌɡɑː /

noun

1. a small green Australian parrot, Melopsittacus undulatus : a popular cagebird that is bred in many different coloured varieties Often (informal) shortened tobudgie

Word History and Origins

Origin of budgerigar¹

First recorded in 1840–50; perhaps misrepresentation of Kamilaroi or Yuwaalaraay (an Australian Aboriginal language of northern New South Wales) gijirrigā (perhaps gijirr “yellow” or “small” + gā “head”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of budgerigar¹

C19: from a native Australian language

Example Sentences

And this book about “million-dollar babies” has a lot of million-dollar words: etiolated, accidie, budgerigar.

From New York Times

For television audiences in the 1970s, he was a faux terrifying and hilarious Mr Big in Ronnie Barker’s prison comedy series Porridge: he ran the gaff as the glinting-eyed tobacco baron Harry Grout, who shared a cell with his budgerigar Seymour – until he ate him.

From The Guardian

"Unfortunately, this find is not good enough to reconstruct the appearance or lifestyle of this parrot, but we can see that it was rather similar to modern ones. So it was likely a very modern-looking small bird, around the size of a budgerigar."

From BBC

A budgerigar is a small Australian parrot that is a popular household pet, and men’s swimwear in Australia is colloquially known as budgie smugglers.

From Seattle Times

The Australian media has dubbed the men the Budgie Nine, using a spelling variation of the abbreviated name of the budgerigar, a small Australian parrot.

From New York Times