bestiary

noun

bes·​ti·​ary ˈbes-chē-ˌer-ē 

-ˌe-rē, 

ˈbesh-, 

ˈbēs-, 

ˈbēsh-

plural bestiaries

1

: a medieval allegorical or moralizing work on the appearance and habits of real or imaginary animals

2

a

: a collection of descriptions or representations of real or imaginary animals

b

: an array of real humans or literary characters often having symbolic significance

3

: an unusual or whimsical collection

… a truly astounding bestiary of airplane designs.

—Peter Garrison

Examples of bestiary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Zendaya’s character, Marie, a depressive addict, who finds herself at complete unease in the Hollywood bestiary, claws at Malcolm, played by John David Washington, who is nothing more than a vessel for Levinson’s entitled auteur grievances. —Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2026

Kratos and his son Atreus traverse the nine realms, dig up old traumas, and stand off against a whole bestiary’s worth of gargantuan, flesh-eating monsters. —Luke Winkie, Vulture, 1 Apr. 2025

Their violence — in medieval bestiaries, unicorns are regularly said to have beef with elephants and take them down by goring their bellies — is contrasted with their gentleness towards maidens and innate understanding of purity. —Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 28 Mar. 2025

Our Creature, Our Selves Image This fair is also a bestiary, with many of its animal objects ready to serve. —Walker Mimms, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin bestiarium, from Latin, neuter of bestiarius of beasts, from bestia

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined at sense 1