Menagerie - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

MENAGERIE, a collection of wild animals kept for show or exhibition. The word is particularly applied to travelling exhibitions of wild animals, attached to a circus or other show, "zoological gardens"(q.v.) being the term generally applied to large stationary and permanent exhibitions, arranged on a scientific system. The French menagerie (from menage, O. Fr. mesnage, Lat. mansionaticum, mansio, house, cf. "manage") originally meant the administration of a household or farm, with special reference to the live stock.