menagerie

American  

[muh-naj-uh-ree, -nazh-] / məˈnædʒ ə ri, -ˈnæʒ- /

noun

• menageries
  plural

1. a collection of wild or unusual animals, especially for exhibition.

2. a place where they are kept or exhibited.

3. an unusual and varied group of people.

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menagerie British  

/ mɪˈnædʒərɪ /

noun

1. a collection of wild animals kept for exhibition

2. the place where such animals are housed

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• menageries
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of menagerie

1705–15; < French: literally, housekeeping. See ménage, -ery

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Explanation

A menagerie (pronounced muh-NA-juh-ree, with NA as in "national") is a collection of live animals that people visit, study, or keep as pets. If you really want a backyard menagerie of farm animals after visiting the petting zoo, take a long sniff and remember what comes with them. Pet lovers can have a menagerie of cats, dogs, and birds or exotic animals such as snakes, ferrets, and piranhas. Zoos have animal collections like the menagerie of sea creatures in the aquarium and the swinging apes in the jungle menagerie. And a science or medical center may have a menagerie of rats for studying behavior. If you want a menagerie, an ant farm is a good one: lots of animals in a container, always working, and never stinking up the place.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

menagerie menageries

For its technical team, "Wildwood" marks a milestone in terms of the expressions created, and the menagerie of animals featured.

From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026

The author said he moved to his new home in West Sussex because it had land for his "huge and expanding menagerie", and was quiet.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

They include a selection of more than 90 lots from a "cement menagerie" - painted sculptures of animals, historical figures and rural scenes.

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026

On songs like “Slushy” and “Predictable Girl,” she intertwines a menagerie of robotic, spacey sirens with tinges of Jersey club beats and ’90s-influenced R&B chords.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025

As soon as I can do it without attracting attention, I flee to the menagerie.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Lamb has worked on the Rose Parade for 52 years, decorating floats with the flowers that bring the fanciful tableaux and myriad menageries to life.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2024

Eventually, the only animals on display would be a few ancient holdovers from the old menageries, animals in active conservation breeding programs and perhaps a few rescues.

From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2021

In the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, both countries launched veritable menageries aboard rockets, although none both reached orbit and survived the journey before 1960’s Soviet dogs Belka and Strelka.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 12, 2021

Pre–20th century zoos were just menageries full of concrete and cages where people could go and gawk at weird wildlife.

From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2016

The lower animals confined in the impure atmosphere of menageries, contract the same diseases as man.

From A Treatise on Physiology and Hygiene For Educational Institutions and General Readers by Joseph Chrisman Hutchison

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