menagerie

Definition

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

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

• "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."
• "[Brigitte] Bardot, the stunning, desirable beauty who once stood for sexual freedom for women, spent the latter part of her life at her home near Saint Tropez with her husband and a menagerie of pets."

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