Smithsonian Institution

American  

[smith-soh-nee-uhn] / smɪθˈsoʊ ni ən /

noun

1. an institution in Washington, D.C., founded 1846 with a grant left by James Smithson, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge: U.S. national museum and repository.

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Smithsonian Institution British  

/ smɪθˈsəʊnɪən /

noun

1. a national museum and institution in Washington, D.C., founded in 1846 from a bequest by James Smithson, primarily concerned with ethnology, zoology, and astrophysics

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Smithsonian Institution Cultural  

1. A group of over a dozen museums and research and publication facilities, such as the National Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of History and Technology, the National Zoo, and the National Gallery of Art. Many of the Smithsonian's buildings are on the Washington Mall. The institution is named after James Smithson, an Englishman whose bequest enabled its founding in the nineteenth century.

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Example Sentences

The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, a group of coin experts, artists and bipartisan political appointees, consulted historians, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution and others.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 11, 2025

She added that she wanted to visit as many Smithsonian Institution museums -- run by the US government -- as she could and was most excited about the Museum of Natural History.

From Barron's • Nov. 14, 2025

"If deemed necessary, the site could be authorized again for nuclear weapons testing," according to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, which is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

From BBC • Oct. 29, 2025

In addition to Peppe and Flynn, the research team included scientists from Baylor University, New Mexico State University, the Smithsonian Institution, the University of Edinburgh, University College London and multiple U.S. and international institutions.

From Science Daily • Oct. 26, 2025

In 1966 the discoverers prepared to turn over to the Smithsonian Institution the cigar box in which they deposited their very first sample of the elusive element.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik