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''conservatory'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''conservatory'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20250804005422-00-⌔

conservatory - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Adjective

conservatory (comparative more conservatory, superlative most conservatory)

  • Having the quality of preserving from loss, decay, or injury.
  • (rare) Relating to conservation.

Noun

conservatory (plural conservatories)

  • (obsolete) A medicine, especially a magical preservative.
    • ✤ The auncient Catholyke fathers… were not afrayde to call this Supper… the foode of immortalitie… and the conseruatory to euerlastyng lyfe.1
    • ✤ …a tree appointed to be the cure of diseases and a conservatory of life…2
  • (chiefly historical Italian contexts) A school or clinic for orphans.
  • (now chiefly US) A music school.
  • (now rare) A storehouse, a repository.
  • (obsolete) An icehouse, a warehouse for ice.
  • (obsolete) A cistern, an artificially collected body of water.
  • (obsolete) A reservoir, an artificially maintained body of water.
  • (now uncommon) A greenhouse, a glass - walled building for cultivating delicate plants.
    • ✤ Synonyms: greenhouse, hothouse, orangery, planthouse
  • (chiefly UK, Ireland) A solarium, a glass - walled and glass - roofed room in a house.
    • ✤ Synonyms: sunroom, solarium, Florida room
    • ✤ Joyce Barnaby: It’s a lovely cottage in Badger’s Drift. It’s got two bedrooms, two living rooms and a conservatory.
      DCI Tom Barnaby: Conservatory? Sounds like something out of Cluedo.
      Cully Barnaby: Colonel Mustard with the candlestick in the conservatory.      3
  • A drama school.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /kənˈsɜː.və.tɹi/
  • Audio (Southern England): 🔊
  • (General American) IPA: /kənˈsɝ.vəˌt(ɔ.)ɹi/

Etymology 1

From Medieval Latin cōnservātōrius directly and via French conservatoire, from cōnservāre (“to conserve, to preserve”) + -torius (“-atory: forming related adjectives”) and/or conservator (“conservator, preserver, protector”) + -ius (“-y: forming related adjectives”).

Etymology 2

From Medieval Latin cōnservātōrium directly and via French conservatoire and Italian conservatorio, from cōnservātus (“conserved, preserved”) + -ōrium (“-ory: forming related nouns”).

Printed 2026-06-28.

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Footnotes

  1. 1563, John Jewel, The Seconde Tome of Homelyes…, sig. IIII.i.v: ↩

  2. 1655, Jeremy Taylor, Vnum Necessarium, p. 371: ↩

  3. 1999 September 12, Anthony Horowitz & al., “Dead Man’s Eleven”, Midsomer Murders: ↩

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Secondary

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