Where does “parrotfinch” come from?

parrotfinch (English) comes from English finch, from Middle English fynch, from Old English finċ, from Proto-Germanic finkiz, from Proto-Indo-European (s)pingos — chaffinch.

parrotfinch (English): A small, colourful passerine estrildid bird

Definitions

  1. A small, colourful passerine estrildid bird

Ancestry of “parrotfinch”, step by step

parrotfinch traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English finch

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishfinchAny bird of the family Fringillidae, seed-eating...
2Middle Englishfynchfinch
3Old Englishfinċfinch
4Proto-Germanicfinkizfinch
5Proto-Indo-European(s)pingoschaffinch

via English Parrot

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishParrotA kind of bird, many species of which are colorful and able to mimic human speech, of the order Psittaciformes or (narrowly) of the family Psittacidae
2Middle Frenchperrot—
3Middle Frenchperroquet—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)pingos →Every word from Proto-Germanic finkiz →Every word from Old English finċ →