1940: menagerie and ménage Apr 7, 2020

A 'menagerie' another term for a zoo where animals are displayed, but the clearly related 'ménage' doesn't mean anything of the sort; that refers to the member of a household. Both of these come from the French 'menage' meaning ‘to stay’, related to 'manage' , but is also influenced by the older 'mesnie' meaning 'household'. The zoological version is slightly divergent therefore, though the word is mostly used figuratively to mean 'a strange collection'.

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