Dictionary

Wunderkammer en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• vo͝onʹdər-kä'mər (US)
• /ˈvʊndɚˌkɑmɚ/ (US)
• /ˈvʊndəˌkamə/ (UK)
• vo͝onʹdər-kăm'ər (UK)

Etymology

From German Wunderkammer (literally “room of wonders”).

Meanings

1. (historical) A cabinet of scientific curiosities, especially during the late Renaissance.
   • Tucked into a small storefront on Venice Boulevard, the museum has been called a modern-day wunderkammer and is the subject of a 1995 book, Mr. Wilsons Cabinet of Wonders (Pantheon), by Lawrence Weschler. 2007 November 4, Carol Kino, “Boldly, Where No Dog Had Gone Before”, in The New York Times:
   • Despite the frequent bric-à-brac dimension to such collections, these theatres of nature invited an appreciation of nature rather different from the Renaissance Wunderkammer which had preceded them. 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 207:
2. (broadly) A place where a collection of curiosities and rarities is exhibited.

Forms

Synonyms

cabinet of curiosities · kunstkabinett · kunstkammer

Translations (21)

it wunderkammer (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · ms ajaibkhanah (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · nl rariteitenkabinet (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · de Kunstkabinett (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · fi kuriositeettikabinetti (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · de Kuriositätenkabinett (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · es cuarto de maravillas (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · da raritetskabinet (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · de Kunstkammer (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · ru кунстка́мера (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · sv kuriosakabinett (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · pl kunstkamera (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · ja 驚異の部屋 (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · da kunstkammer (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · fr cabinet de curiosités (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · de Wunderkammer (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · da kunstkabinet (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · pl gabinet osobliwości (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · nl kunstkabinet (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · ru кабине́т ре́дкостей (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance) · it camera delle meraviglie (a cabinet of scientific curiosities in the late Renaissance)