Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
ménagerie. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ménagerie, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ménagerie in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ménagerie you have here. The definition of the word
ménagerie will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
ménagerie, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Noun
ménagerie (plural ménageries)
- Alternative form of menagerie.
1818, Edward Baldwin [pseudonym; William Godwin], “The Daw and the Borrowed Feathers”, in Fables, Ancient and Modern. Adapted for the Use of Children. , 2nd American edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: Benjamin Warner, , page 74:In one of his flights, he happened to alight in the middle of a ménagerie of peacocks. […] Just at this moment the master of the ménagerie called his birds into a little inclosure, that he might give them their breakfast. […] There was a pond in the middle of the ménagerie, that served him for a looking-glass.
1844 July, J G Francis, “Florence”, in Notes from a Journal Kept in Italy and Sicily, during the Years 1844, 1845, and 1846. , London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, , published 1847, page 33:Viperine venom was fixed upon, as being powerful enough to ensure a counteracting affection; and nine live vipers were procured from Prince Napoleon Jerome Buonaparte, who keeps a ménagerie of those animals for philosophical purposes.
1858, Gore, chapter XIII, in Heckington. , volume III, London: Hurst and Blackett, , page 257:People grew accustomed to the announcement of their names, the sight of their faces and sound of their voices, as to the quadrilles of Laurent’s Orchestra, or the ices of Gunter; and in the orchid-house-atmosphere of ministerial Soirées, amidst a confusion of tongues capable of deafening an artilleryman or the keeper of a ménagerie, the two sisters,—the most rising nobodies of the day,—might be heard sympathising cheerfully with Lady Brookdale concerning the annoyance likely to arise to poor Mrs. Warwick, from the death of her fellow-passenger in the Lightning!
1876, William Young Martin, “Egypt”, in The East: Being a Narrative of Personal Impressions of a Tour in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. , London: Tinsley Brothers, , page 22:In such a ménagerie of travellers, one occasionally meets with most desirable company, but caution and selection are needful, and in this matter our party was fortunate.
French
Pronunciation
Noun
ménagerie f (plural ménageries)
- menagerie (a collection of live wild animals on exhibition; the enclosure where they are kept)
Descendants
Further reading