1. popinjay(n = noun.person) - a vain and talkative person (chatters like a parrot);
is a kind of egoist, egotist, swellhead
2. popinjay(n = noun.animal) - an archaic term for a parrot;
is a kind of parrot
1. The green woodpecker. [1913 Webster]
"The pye and popyngay speak they know not what." [1913 Webster]
2. A target in the form of a parrot. [1913 Webster]
3. A trifling, chattering, fop or coxcomb. Shak. [1913 Webster]
popinjay, n.
1 a fop, a conceited person, a coxcomb.
2 a archaic a parrot. b hist. a figure of a parrot on a pole as a mark to shoot at.
Etymology:
ME f. AF papeiaye, OF papingay etc. f. Sp. papagayo f. Arab. babaga: assim. to JAY