bestiaryn.

Etymology: Partly (i, in sense 1) < classical Latin bēstiārius person who fights with beasts in the arena < bēstia beast n. + -ārius -ary suffix¹. Partly (ii, in sense 2) < post-classical Latin bestiarium cattle, animals (12th cent.; from 13th cent. in British sources), treatise on animals or beasts (13th cent.; from 14th cent. in British sources) < classical Latin bēstia beast n. + -ārium -ary suffix¹. Parallel in French. Compare Middle French, French bestiaire treatise on animals or beasts (c1120 in Old French), person who fights with beasts in a Roman arena (1495). Note on forms. In the form beastiary after beast n. Related formation in Middle English. Compare the following Middle English example of Bestiary apparently in the sense ‘expert on animals’ or ‘author of a bestiary’, used here as a title or epithet of Bartholomeus Anglicus, apparently arising from either post-classical Latin bestiarium or Middle French bestiaire (although both are found only denoting a treatise, not the author of a treatise):c1450 (c1405) Mum & Sothsegger (BL Add. 41666) (1936) l. 1054 Thenne..þe bees..seruen þaym þere-after As Bartholomew þe Bestiary bablith on his bokes, And of other pryvy poyntz.Although there appears to be no evidence that Bartholomeus wrote a bestiary, his encyclopedia De Proprietatibus Rerum was an important source for medieval bestiaries. The poet's choice of words is also likely to have been influenced by considerations of alliteration.