popinjay Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a vain and talkative person (chatters like a parrot)
  2. noun an archaic term for a parrot

WordNet

Pop"in*jay noun
Etymology
OE. popingay, papejay, OF. papegai, papegaut; cf. Pr. papagai, Sp. & Pg. papagayo, It. pappagallo, LGr. , NGr. in which the first syllables are perhaps imitative of the bird's chatter, and the last either fr. L. gallus cock, or the same word as E. jay, F. geai. Cf. Papagay.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) (a) The green woodpecker. (b) A parrot.
    The pye and popyngay speak they know not what. Tyndale.
  2. A target in the form of a parrot. Scot.
  3. A trifling, chattering, fop or coxcomb. "To be so pestered with a popinjay." Shak.

Webster 1913