menagerie en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
From French ménagerie, derived from ménager (“to keep house”), household. Housekeeping used to include taking care of domestic animals.
Meanings
- A collection of live wild animals as an exhibition historically associated with the aristocracy and considered a precursor of modern zoos.
-
The enclosure where they are kept.
In Sacramento a crazed woman opened the cages of a circus menagerie for fear the animals might starve to death, and had been mauled by a lioness.
1949, Bruce Kiskaddon, George R. Stewart, Earth Abides:
-
A diverse or miscellaneous group.
[Brigitte] Bardot, the stunning, desirable beauty who once stood for sexual freedom for women, spent the latter part of her life at her home near Saint Tropez with her husband and a menagerie of pets.
2025 December 28, Elizabeth Blair, “Brigitte Bardot, sex goddess of cinema, has died”, in NPR:
- (obsolete, slang) The orchestra of a theatre.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| menageries | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| ménagerie | alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Relateds
Synonyms
assortment · motley crew · zoo · zoo · hodgepodge · melange · zoological garden
Translations (32)
vo nimikonlet (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · uk звіри́нець (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · fr ménagerie (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · it serraglio (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · ka სამხეცე (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · io menajerio (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · fi sekalainen joukko (diverse or miscellaneous group) · it recinto (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · pt menagerie (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · mk ѕверилник (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · hy գազանանոց (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · mk менажерија (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · grc θηριοτροφεῖον (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · ru сброд (diverse or miscellaneous group) · es colección de fieras (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · be звяры́нец (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · tr aslanhane (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · sv menageri (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · la vīvārium (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · fi eläintarha (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · grc ζωγρεῖον (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · pl menażeria (diverse or miscellaneous group) · cmn 動物園 /动物园 (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · el θηριοτροφείο (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · pt viveiro (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · ro menajerie (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · cs zvěřinec (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · pl menażeria (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · ru звери́нец (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · de Menagerie (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · pl zwierzyniec (collection of live wild animals on exhibition) · es casa de fieras (enclosure)