bestiary
Americannoun
-
bestiaries
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of bestiary
1615–25; < Medieval Latin bēstiārium, neuter of Latin bēstiārius. See beast, -ary
Explanation
A bestiary is a book from the medieval era with pictures and stories of animals. Bestiaries includes real animals as well as mythical animals such as unicorns. A medieval source of information about animals is a bestiary — a book with descriptions of animals real and imaginary, often with moralizing tales of their exploits. In this respect, bestiaries had a lot in common with fairy tales, which also often end with a moral. Bestiaries often had gorgeous artwork portraying the real and fanciful creatures. If you like reading about centaurs as much as bears, you'd probably enjoy reading a bestiary, which is related to the word beast.
Vocabulary lists containing bestiary
Impossible Creatures
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Ballad and Dagger
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A veritable bestiary of nearly 100 sculptures by dozens of artists offers the opportunity to bask in the diverse glory of the animal—and creative—kingdoms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
The crew, who are near the end of a 65-year mission — suspended animation keeps them young and pretty — are transporting an extraterrestrial bestiary back to Earth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2025
Designer Virginie Viard collaborated again with contemporary artist Xavier Veilhan who used a bestiary in house founder Coco Chanel’s apartment as a creative springboard for the carnival-like spring decor.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 24, 2023
Naked mole-rats and blind mole-rats are now safely within the research bestiary.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2022
The meaning of these stories may be basically the same as the meaning of a medieval bestiary.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
The design may have come from medieval bestiaries, which were "the origin for JK Rowling's book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", said Helen Geake.
From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2024
Medieval bestiaries were books that served as compendiums of creatures both fantastic and real.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2019
The purpose of animals in medieval bestiaries, for example, was to give us lessons in how to live.
From New York Times ● May 16, 2017
She is a magpie, plucking language from myriad arenas: bestiaries, business documents, tourist pamphlets.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 13, 2016
The mythical animals catalogued in the bestiaries of the world seem, at a casual glance, nothing but exotic nonsense.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
