zoo

English · Español · Français · Deutsch · Italiano · Português · Română · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

zoo

/zuː/
/zʉw/ British, Southern, Standard

Rhymes with -uː

Where it comes from

Clipping of zoological garden or zoological park, now the usual form. See zoology.

* Sense 5 is a clipping of zoophile or zoophilia.

noun zoos

countable A park where live animals are exhibited. The London Zoo was built in 1828.
countable, figuratively, informal Any place that is wild, crowded, or chaotic. The shopping center was a zoo the week before Christmas.
countable, figuratively, informal A large and varied collection of something. After his insightful book The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, Spoto published The Dark Side of Genius, a portrayal of the elderly director as a lonely man who was a veritable zoo of desires, suspicions, fears, and addictions (food, drink, romantic infatuation, and filmmaking).
US, countable, slang The jungle. I'm not all that unhappy about being out on an actual patrol, but there's a worried feeling wandering around the back of my mind, not exactly fear, more like a sort of lurking anxiety at being out in the dreaded jungle, the zoo, where the enemy hides.
abbreviation, clipping, countable, informal Clipping of zoophile Zoophiles, or 'zoos,' are sexually and emotionally attracted to animals, as in a sexual orientation.
broadly, informal, uncountable Pornographic material depicting actual animals or bestiality.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: menagerie, zoological garden, garden, zoological, zoology, park, phytoplankton, animal, plankton, wall, petting, lee, circus, jail, yep, animal park

Translations

Every language

noun park where live animals are exhibited

Español	zoo, jardín zoo, zoológico
한국어	동물원 dongmurwon
日本語	動物園 dōbutsuen
中文	動物園 /动物园 dòngwùyuán
हिन्दी	चिड़ियाघर ciṛiyāghar, चिड़ियाख़ाना ciṛiyāxānā, पशु-वाटिका paśu-vāṭikā, जीवादि वाटिका jīvādi vāṭikā
Kiswahili	bustani ya wanyama
Português	zoológico, jardim zoológico, zoo
Français	zoo
Deutsch	Zoo, Tiergarten, Tierpark
Italiano	zoo
Ελληνικά	ζωολογικός κήπος zoologikós kípos
Română	zoo, parc zoologic, grădină zoologică, zooparc
Русский	зоопа́рк zoopárk, зоологи́ческий сад zoologíčeskij sad, зооса́д zoosád, звери́нец zverínec
Tiếng Việt	thảo cầm viên, sở thú, vườn thú
العربية	حَدِيقَة الْحَيَوَان ḥadīqat al-ḥayawān, حَدِيقَة حَيَوَان
עברית	גַּן חַיּוֹת gan khayót, גן זואולוגי gan zo'ológi

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"zoo." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/zoo. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

zoo. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/zoo

Chicago

"zoo." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/zoo.

BibTeX

@misc{zoo_2026,
  title = {zoo},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/zoo},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}