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
Peter GarrisonExamples of bestiary in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This fair is also a bestiary, with many of its animal objects ready to serve.
—Walker Mimms, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025
The second book is the bestiary full of dinosuars of all sizes and shapes.
—Rob Wieland, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for bestiary
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Walker Mimms, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025
The second book is the bestiary full of dinosuars of all sizes and shapes.
—Rob Wieland, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for bestiary
Cite this Entry
“Bestiary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bestiary. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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