menagerie

• ménagerie

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

• IPA^(key): /mɪˈnæd͡ʒəɹɪ/, /mɪˈnæʒəɹɪ/

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menagerie (plural menageries)

1. A collection of live wild animals as an exhibition historically associated with the aristocracy and considered a precursor of modern zoos.
2. 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.

3. A diverse or miscellaneous group.
4. (obsolete, slang) The orchestra of a theatre.

menagerie f (plural menageries)

1. menagerie (collection of live wild animals on exhibition)