terrarium

American  

[tuh-rair-ee-uhm] / təˈrɛər i əm /

noun

• terrariums,
  plural
• terraria
  plural

1. a vivarium for land animals (distinguished from aquarium).

2. a glass container, chiefly or wholly enclosed, for growing and displaying plants.

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terrarium British  

/ tɛˈrɛərɪəm /

noun

1. an enclosure for keeping small land animals

2. a glass container, often a globe, in which plants are grown

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• terraria
  plural
• terrariums
  plural

Etymology

Origin of terrarium

First recorded in 1885–90; terr(a) + -arium

Compare meaning

How does terrarium compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• vivarium vs. terrarium

Explanation

A terrarium is an enclosed, indoor garden, usually small and made of glass so that you can see your collection of plants. Most often, a terrarium is about the size of a home aquarium, and the two are often made of the same materials. Instead of keeping exotic fish, however, the owner of a terrarium keeps interesting plants and occasionally reptiles like turtles or lizards. The word terrarium was first used in the late 1800s, and it came from the word aquarium — substituting terre (meaning "land") for aqua (meaning "water").

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

terrarium terraria terrariums

There was a basketball court, wading pools, a library, a terrarium, chess tables, a gym, bicycles and a snack room filled entirely with products from Feastables, Donaldson’s snack company.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 3, 2026

Earth isn’t an isolated terrarium, and life upon it has been as influenced by impacts and near misses as by continental drift.

From Slate ● Oct. 21, 2024

The American remake of "The Office" transformed the blank environs of an office supplies wholesaler into an adorable terrarium.

From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2024

Adam Sandler stars in “Leo” as a grumpy lizard who has spent his entire life in the terrarium of a fifth-grade classroom.

From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2023

The third one clutched a terrarium full of pixies so tight her white knuckles turned red.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

Just think of sealed terraria, in which miniature plant ecosystems thrive by themselves for decades with no outside intervention.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 6, 2019

But perhaps such terraria could be maintained by “bush robots” that live in the soil, constantly monitoring its biochemistry and microbiology and adjusting the environment microbe by microbe.

From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2016

Transformed by new sciences and new ways to live, most "spacers" find the mother planet an embarrassment; 92% of its mammal species are endangered or live in "off-planet terraria".

From The Guardian ● Jun. 14, 2012

On my way out I might stop by the terraria to look at some shiny frogs glazed bright, bright green, or yellow and deep blue, or brown and pale green.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

"They're quite territorial so we keep them in their own terrariums and we keep the room very humid to mimic their natural environment," Prof Woods explained.

From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026

To do so, the researchers fed the terrariums with half a teaspoon of fruit flies and recorded their hunting.

From Science Daily ● May 28, 2024

Add a few terrariums for plants like Venus fly trap, ferns and spike moss that grow best in high humidity and moist soil conditions.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 20, 2024

Unweaned kittens rest inside terrariums at the Best Friends Animal Society shelter in April 2017 in Mission Hills, California.

From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2024

Lizard houses, as previously noted, were as much like terrariums as they could be without compromising privacy; they were one of the few animals who kept spare sheets of glass everywhere.

From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness