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aviary

[ey-vee-er-ee]
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noun, plural a·vi·ar·ies.
  1. a large cage or a house or enclosure in which birds are kept.
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Origin of aviary

1570–80; < Latin aviārium a place where birds are kept, noun use of neuter of aviārius pertaining to birds. See avi-, -ary
Related formsa·vi·a·rist [ey-vee-uh-rist] /ˈeɪ vi ə rɪst/, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

volarycolumbarybirdhouse

Examples from the Web for aviary

Historical Examples

  • For a few moments there had been a noise as of an aviary in commotion in the adjoining room.

    Fruitfulness

    Emile Zola

  • I have seen them alive at Singapore in an aviary, and they are indeed gorgeous.

    The Last Voyage

    Lady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey

  • But the use to which I was ambitious to put my—or our—conservatory was that of an aviary.

    The House

    Eugene Field

  • One might have supposed one's self at an opera in listening to the voices in my aviary.

    The Coming Race

    Edward Bulwer Lytton

  • This remark brings us back to the aviary, and its general size.

British Dictionary definitions for aviary

aviary

noun plural aviaries
  1. a large enclosure in which birds are kept
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Word Origin

C16: from Latin aviārium, from aviārius concerning birds, from avis bird
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for aviary

n.

1570s, from Latin aviarium "place in which birds are kept," neuter of aviarius "of birds," from avis "bird," from PIE *awi- "bird" (cf. Sanskrit vih, Avestan vish "bird," Greek aietos "eagle").

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper