The Etymology of Menagerie
Menagerie began as a word about households, not zoos. French 'ménagerie' grew from Old French 'mesnage' (household, household management), itself from Vulgar Latin '*mansionaticum,' from Latin 'mansio' (a dwelling). The Latin root 'manere' (to remain, to stay) is the same one behind English 'mansion,' 'manse,' and French 'maison.' Originally a 'ménagerie' was simply the part of a great estate where the domestic animals were kept and managed. The shift to mean a collection of exotic, often wild animals was driven by one famous example: the menagerie at Versailles, established by Louis XIV in the 1660s, where ostriches, elephants, and big cats were displayed as royal spectacle. By 1712, when English borrowed the word, it already carried this exotic sense, and the figurative use ('a menagerie of strange characters') followed in the 19th century.