menagerie

WOTD – 5 July 2010    

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From French ménagerie, derived from ménager (“to keep house”), household. Housekeeping used to include taking care of domestic animals.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mɪˈnædʒərɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

menagerie (plural menageries)

1. A collection of live wild animals on exhibition; the enclosure where they are kept.
   • 1949 - Bruce Kiskaddon, George R. Stewart Earth Abides

     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.

2. A diverse or miscellaneous group.

Translations

collection of live wild animals on exhibition; the enclosure where they are kept

• Armenian: գազանանոց (hy) (gazananoc’)
• Finnish: eläintarha (fi)
• French: ménagerie (fr)
• Italian: serraglio (it), recinto (it) m
• Latin: vīvārium (la) n

• Macedonian: ѕверилник (mk) (dzvérilnik) m, менажерија (mk) (menažérija) f
• Romanian: menajerie (ro) f
• Russian: зверинец (ru) (zverinec) m
• Spanish: casa de fieras (es)
• Volapük: nimikonlet (vo)

diverse or miscellaneous group

• Finnish: sekalainen (fi) joukko (fi)

• Russian: сброд (ru) (sbrod) m