zoo
/zuː
/noun
1An establishment which maintains a collection of wild animals, typically in a park or gardens, for study, conservation, or display to the public.Once it was only possible to see animals in zoos or in marine parks but in recent years there has been a huge growth in wildlife tourism around the world....
- In Colombia, biologists are busy reintroducing young condors hatched in North American zoos to parks and reserves.
- While some of the animals are kept in zoos, the Sumatran rhino is difficult to breed in captivity.
1.1A situation characterized by confusion and disorder: it’s a zoo in the lobby...
- I was reluctant to do the Olympics because I thought it would be a zoo.
- Through the human zoo called Paris, the driver found his way to the shop located in the middle of the entertainment part of the city.
Origin
Mid 19th century: abbreviation of zoological garden, originally applied specifically to that of Regent's Park, London.
The first zoo was the Zoological Gardens in Regent's Park, London. It was established in 1828 in the gardens of the London Zoological Society, and was at first just for scientific study, but was opened to the public in 1847. Practically all English words beginning zoo-, including zoological (early 19th century) and zoology (mid 17th century), go back to Greek zōion ‘animal’, source also of zodiac (Late Middle English) which got its name because most of the signs of the zodiac are represented by animals.