conservatory

noun

con·​ser·​va·​to·​ry kən-ˈsər-və-ˌtȯr-ē 

plural conservatories

1

: a greenhouse for growing or displaying plants

2

: a school specializing in one of the fine arts

a music conservatory

Synonyms

• greenhouse

Examples of conservatory in a Sentence

the Peabody Conservatory of Music

the college's conservatory is entirely devoted to cultivating and displaying orchids

Recent Examples on the Web

Butterfly Wonderland in Scottsdale is the largest butterfly conservatory in the country. —Paige Moore, AZCentral.com, 10 Oct. 2025

These weren’t people who studied in a conservatory. —Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 10 Oct. 2025

There are tales from Catholic high school — in which Alan Cumming has provided the voice of a disapproving priest — and from musical-theater conservatory, during which Mulvaney gently goads one of the (few) straight men in her audience to perform trans allyship by playing her crush. —Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2025

Every conservatory has a film department now and, with AI, more people have access to tools to create soundtracks. —Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 1 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin conservātōrium "something that preserves" (Medieval Latin, "fish pond"), from Latin conservāre "to save or keep from danger, preserve" + -tōrium, suffix of places (from neuter of -tōrius, deverbal adjective suffix originally forming derivatives from agent nouns ending in -tōr-, -tor); (sense 2) after Italian conservatorio, originally denoting a home for foundlings and orphans who were given a musical education — more at conserve entry 1

First Known Use

1664, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

conservatory

noun

con·​ser·​va·​to·​ry kən-ˈsər-və-ˌtōr-ē 

-ˌtȯr-

plural conservatories

1

: a greenhouse for growing or displaying plants

2

: a place of instruction in some special study (as music)