'psittacine' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'psittacus', which in turn comes from Greek 'psittakos', where the root meant 'parrot'.

'psittacine' changed from Medieval Latin 'psittacinus' (formed from 'psittacus') and eventually became the modern English word 'psittacine'.

Initially, it meant 'of or pertaining to parrots' and over time it has retained that meaning, used both as an adjective ('parrot-like') and as a noun ('a parrot' or collectively 'parrots').