bestiary

English
Folio from the Rochester Bestiary (13th c.)

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin bēstiārium, from Latin bēstia (“beast, animal”) (whence English beast).

Pronunciation
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈbiːstiˌɛɹi/, /ˈbɛstiˌɛɹi/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)

Noun

bestiary (plural bestiaries)

  1. A medieval treatise of various real or imaginary animals.
    • 1982, George Plimpton, A Sports Bestiary, McGraw-Hill Companies, →ISBN:
      This book is not actually a bestiary. It is what most people think a bestiary is—namely an assemblage of vividly imagined beasts who behave somewhat quirkily, bear only the vaguest application to real life, […]
  2. (gaming) A list or guidebook of the monsters to be found in a roleplaying game.

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