Pandemonium
noun /ˌpændɪˈməʊnɪəm/ — A group of parrots — onomatopoeia in collective noun form.
Definition
The collective noun for a group of parrots — named after the uproar they collectively produce. Also: a word for wild and noisy disorder (from John Milton's Paradise Lost) that has come full circle to describe these birds.
Beyond the definition
Anyone who has encountered a large group of parrots understands this choice immediately. Pandemonium is not merely loud — it is enthusiastic, overlapping, impossible to ignore. The birds named the word before the word named the birds.
Origin & history
From John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) — 'Pandæmonium,' the capital of Hell, home of all the demons. 'Pan-' (all) + 'daimon' (demon/spirit). Applied to parrots: a small literary joke that stuck.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
A pandemonium of parrots descended on the fruit tree at dawn.
The market erupted into pandemonium — or would have, if she'd brought the parrot.
The collective noun 'pandemonium' for parrots is Milton's best joke.
Synonyms
flock (of parrots), company
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Word in focus
A pandemonium of parrots
A flock of parrots perched together in tree branches.
Here, “pandemonium” names the whole gathering. Notice the animals together rather than looking for one individual with that name. The photograph illustrates the group; it is not evidence that this particular scene inspired the expression.
Image credit: Harvinder Chandigarh · CC BY-SA 4.0 (license)
Resized and converted to WebP; displayed with a fitted crop.