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.

---

menagerie British  

/ mɪˈnædʒərɪ /

noun

1. a collection of wild animals kept for exhibition

2. the place where such animals are housed

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• menageries
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of menagerie

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

---

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

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

The image includes a chaotic menagerie of an old hotel and a crowded street, including everything from Djo himself hanging from a window, a kissing couple and a parking ticket dispute.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2026

Lolita Chakrabarti’s smart adaptation rode the magic carpet of Max Webster’s staging, which had the most enchanting menagerie of puppets since “The Lion King.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2025

She has created large canvases, embellished formal gloves and a gown, and—most shockingly—a decorated taxidermied goat covered in a menagerie of stitched animals, including a mischievous red-winged blackbird and a cheery possum.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025

I secure Bobo’s door and slip into the connection, the roofless canvas tunnel that joins the menagerie to the big top.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Wealthy rulers throughout history, from Carlos III of Spain to Moctezuma, the ruler of the Aztec Empire, have kept menageries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 17, 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

There were menageries where birds of brilliant plumage were cared for so tenderly that they could not miss their free homes of the forest, and there were wild animals of both hot lands and cold.

From Little Folks of North America Stories about children living in the different parts of North America by Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---