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.

---

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

---

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.

---

Example Sentences

The Smithsonian Institution provided $5,000 in 1917 from its T.G.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

Dr. Emily Milton, a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., said combining multiple research approaches was key to understanding the practice.

From Science Daily • Mar. 7, 2026

Jarett Kobek, a writer from Los Angeles, told AFP how the pair came across the code after he noticed a reference to Washington's Smithsonian Institution, where Sanborn held his archives, in the auction catalog.

From Barron's • Nov. 19, 2025

Washington DC's famous Smithsonian Institution museums will stay open until at least next Monday, 6 October.

From BBC • Oct. 1, 2025

The same is true of Townsend’s bunting, of which there is one stuffed specimen in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson