vivarium

American  

[vahy-vair-ee-uhm, vi-] / vaɪˈvɛər i əm, vɪ- /

noun

plural

vivariums, vivaria

1. a place, such as a laboratory, where live animals or plants are kept under conditions simulating their natural environment, as for research.

---

vivarium British  

/ vaɪˈvɛərɪəm /

noun

1. a place where live animals are kept under natural conditions for study, research, etc

---

Etymology

Origin of vivarium

1590–1600; < Latin vīvārium, equivalent to vīv ( us ) living ( see vital) + -ārium -ary

Compare meaning

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

• vivarium vs. terrarium

Explanation

The deluxe indoor enclosure you built for your pet rabbits — complete with a salad bar, fluffy beds, and a bunny-sized jacuzzi — can be called a vivarium, a type of structure that's specifically intended to house animals. The word vivarium sounds a lot like the more familiar terrarium, and the two have a lot in common. Both are animal enclosures, but a terrarium is a special type of vivarium that's adapted for animals that need access to both land and water (like reptiles). As its root vivus ("alive") implies, a vivarium is for any living animal. Originally, it meant "game park" but was gradually scaled down to mean "indoor enclosure."

Example Sentences

Lamb had noted some of the mice in their vivarium that were missing Crkl and showed spina bifida.

From Science Daily • May 8, 2024

Until the new vivarium at RML opens, Munster is using a colony of Jamaican fruit bats maintained at CSU to conduct his own studies of innate immune responses to SARS-CoV-2.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 4, 2023

Back in the small brick building in Medellín, Asprilla returns the snake to its home, a glass vivarium that stretches from floor to ceiling.

From Scientific American • Sep. 23, 2023

An insectarium with a monumental resin model of a beehive also has a display of live leafcutter ants at work; inside a nearby butterfly vivarium, you can watch pupae in various stages of metamorphosis.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 29, 2023

The vivarium contains upwards of 430 living quadrupeds and birds.

From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 13, No. 351, January 10, 1829 by Various