conservatory
[kuh n-sur-vuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]
- a school giving instruction in one or more of the fine or dramatic arts; specifically, a school of music.
- a greenhouse, usually attached to a dwelling, for growing and displaying plants.
- Archaic. a place where things are preserved.
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- serving or adapted to conserve; preservative.
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Origin of conservatory
1555–65; < Latin conservā(re) (see conserve) + -tory2; in the sense “music school” < French or Italian; see conservatoire
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for conservatory
Contemporary Examples
They meet generally in the Kiev Conservatory, an imposing 1890s-era building overlooking Independence Square.
He used his savings for the voyage across the Atlantic, but was left with no tuition money to attend the conservatory.
Or the latest suspects: Martha Raddatz and Candy Crowley in the conservatory with the lead pipe.
Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, he earned a degree in fine arts from the renowned Boston Conservatory of Music.
By night, sit inside the main dining room; by day, try the conservatory up front.
Historical Examples
Every window was filled with them, until the room seemed like a conservatory.
The Yates PrideMary E. Wilkins Freeman
We were alone, Effie was attending to her plants in the conservatory.
They heard a crash in the conservatory, but both were too excited to mind it.
Pretty Madcap DorothyLaura Jean Libbey
Was it the hand of fate most terrible that guided her toward the conservatory?
Pretty Madcap DorothyLaura Jean Libbey
I opened the conservatory door, and in he rushed like a hunted rabbit.
Masterpieces of MysteryVarious
conservatory
- a greenhouse, esp one attached to a house
- another word for conservatoire
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- preservative
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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 conservatory
n.
1560s, "preservative;" 1660s, "greenhouse," from stem of conservation + -ory. In sense "school for performing arts" it is recorded from 1842, from Italian conservatorio or French conservatoire, originally "hospital for foundlings in which musical education was given."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper