Smithsonian Institution

American  

[smith-soh-nee-uhn] / smɪθˈsoʊ ni ən /

noun

1. an institution in Washington, D.C., founded 1846 with a grant left by James Smithson, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge: U.S. national museum and repository.

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Smithsonian Institution British  

/ smɪθˈsəʊnɪən /

noun

1. a national museum and institution in Washington, D.C., founded in 1846 from a bequest by James Smithson, primarily concerned with ethnology, zoology, and astrophysics

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Smithsonian Institution Cultural  

1. A group of over a dozen museums and research and publication facilities, such as the National Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of History and Technology, the National Zoo, and the National Gallery of Art. Many of the Smithsonian's buildings are on the Washington Mall. The institution is named after James Smithson, an Englishman whose bequest enabled its founding in the nineteenth century.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Smithsonian Institution

That's the question the government-funded Smithsonian Institution posed itself as the United States gears up for the anniversary of the nation's July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

However, a new study published in Science by researchers from Baylor University, New Mexico State University, The Smithsonian Institution, and several international partners challenges that long-standing belief.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2025

To understand this development, it might help to consider the Smithsonian’s early history, as recounted in “Smithson’s Gamble: The Smithsonian Institution in American Life, 1836-1906.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2025

Following Trump’s proposed budget, the Smithsonian Institution submitted its budget justification to Congress.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2025

In 1966 the discoverers prepared to turn over to the Smithsonian Institution the cigar box in which they deposited their very first sample of the elusive element.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik