Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “menagerie” come from?

Menagerie comes from French ménagerie, derived from French ménager meaning to manage a household, from French ménage, rooted in Latin manēre meaning to remain or dwell.

menagerie (English): A collection of live wild animals on exhibition;...

Definitions

  1. A collection of live wild animals on exhibition;...

Ancestry of “menagerie”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchménageriemenagerie
2Frenchménagerhousehold; cleaning; househusband; to husband, to...
3French-erForms infinitives of first-conjugation verbs
4English-erA person or thing that does an action indicated...
5Middle English-eragentive suffix; agent noun suffix
6Old French-erAlternative form of -ier, verbal suffix;...
7Latin-āre—
8Proto-Italic-āōForms primarily denominative verbs
9Proto-Indo-European-eh₂yétiCreates iterative/ frequentative/ intensive...
10Proto-Indo-European-yétiCreates intransitive, often deponent,...
11Proto-Indo-Europeanyé-—
12Chichewaiyehe, she

Words derived from “menagerie”

  • menajerio
Every word from Chichewa iye →