Bestiary

Bestiary
Bestiary Bes"ti*a*ry, n. [LL. bestiarium, fr. L. bestiarius pert. to beasts, fr. bestia beast: cf. F. bestiaire.] A treatise on beasts; esp., one of the moralizing or allegorical beast tales written in the Middle Ages. [1913 Webster]

A bestiary . . . in itself one of the numerous medi[ae]val renderings of the fantastic mystical zo["o]logy. --Saintsbury. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • bestiary — (n.) medieval treatise on beasts usually with moralistic overtones, 1818, from M.L. bestiarium a menagerie, also a book about animals , from bestia (see BEAST (Cf. beast)). A Latin term for such works was liber de bestiis compositus. Roman… …   Etymology dictionary

  • bestiary — [bes′tē er΄ē] n. pl. bestiaries [ML bestiarium < L bestiarius, relating to beasts < bestia,BEAST] a type of medieval natural history book with descriptions and moralistic and religious interpretations of actual and mythical animals …   English World dictionary

  • Bestiary — A bestiary, or Bestiarum vocabulum is a compendium of beasts. Bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals, birds and even rocks. The natural history and illustration of each beast was… …   Wikipedia

  • bestiary —    Bestiaries were popular medieval collections of descriptions and anecdotes of both real and mythical animals, accompanied by moral commentary that gave a Christian interpretation to the animal’s stated qualities. The view behind the format of… …   Encyclopedia of medieval literature

  • bestiary — bestiarist /bes chee euhr ist, cheuhr , bees /, n. /bes chee er ee, bees /, n., pl. bestiaries. a collection of moralized fables, esp. as written in the Middle Ages, about actual or mythical animals. [1615 25; < ML bestiarium, neut. of L… …   Universalium

  • Bestiary — The illustrated bestiary, depicting real and imagined creatures, is a distinctive medieval construct. Bestiaries first appeared in England in the 12c and were derived ultimately from a Greek text, the Physiologus, from 4c Alexandria. They display …   Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

  • bestiary — noun (plural aries) Etymology: Medieval Latin bestiarium, from Latin, neuter of bestiarius of beasts, from bestia Date: 1840 1. a medieval allegorical or moralizing work on the appearance and habits of real or imaginary animals 2 …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Bestiary (album) — Infobox Album Name = Bestiary Type = studio Longtype = Artist = Robert Rich Released = 2001 Recorded = Genre = Ambient Length = 53:09 Label = Relapse Records Producer = Robert Rich Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|2|5… …   Wikipedia

  • bestiary — noun A medieval treatise of various real or imaginary animals. See Also: beast, bestial …   Wiktionary

  • BESTIARY —    a name given to a class of books treating of animals, viewed allegorically …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

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