menagerie

noun

me·​nag·​er·​ie

mə-ˈnaj-rē,

-ˈna-jə- 

 also  -ˈnazh-rē,

-ˈna-zhə-

1

a

: a place where animals are kept and trained especially for exhibition

b

: a collection of wild or foreign animals kept especially for exhibition

2

: a varied mixture

a menagerie of comedians

—TV Guide

A menagerie of grotesque statues stood in the garden.

Did you know?

Back in the days of Middle French, ménagerie meant "the management of a household or farm" or "a place where animals are tended." When English speakers adopted menagerie in the 1600s, they applied it specifically to places where wild and often also foreign animals were kept and trained for exhibition, as well as to the animals so kept. This second meaning was eventually generalized to refer to any varied mixture, especially one that includes things that are strange or foreign to one's experience.

Synonyms

• assortment
• jumble
• variety
• medley
• collage

Examples of menagerie in a Sentence

a menagerie of rare creatures

the living room is eclectically furnished with a menagerie of garage-sale finds

Recent Examples on the Web

Can Ohio hang around against the Buckeyes’ menagerie of stud skill players? —Jon Greenberg, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2025

In later centuries, Barbary lions were gifted between royal courts, kept in menageries, and even depicted on national emblems — as in the coat of arms of Morocco and the United Kingdom. —Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025

The hotel’s menagerie of seating options have been collected and curated throughout the years by its owners, and reflect the hotel’s overall traditional Dominican colonial architecture with a distinctly vintage Palm Beach aesthetic thrown in for good measure. —Madeline Weinfield, Architectural Digest, 5 Sep. 2025

And Hezbollah, as the most heavily armed and violent element of Lebanon’s menagerie of factions and sects, wanted the guns without the responsibility. —Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 2 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French ménagerie, from Middle French, management of a household or farm, from menage

First Known Use

1676, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

menagerie

noun

me·​nag·​er·​ie mə-ˈnaj-(ə-)rē 

 also  -ˈnazh-

1

: a place where animals are kept and trained especially for exhibition

2

: a collection of wild or foreign animals kept especially for exhibition