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
It is perhaps this characteristic that makes the usual bestiary so outlandish to the twentieth-century mind.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Such animals were found in bestiaries, which were illustrated books offering the most popular sources of information about animals, real or imaginary, during the Middle Ages.
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
However, a closer examination of Muggle bestiaries of that period demonstrates that most magical beasts either escaped Muggle notice completely or were mistaken for something else.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
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.
