conservatory

noun

con·​ser·​va·​to·​ry kən-ˈsər-və-ˌtȯr-ē 

plural conservatories

1

: a greenhouse for growing or displaying plants

2

: a school specializing in one of the fine arts

a music conservatory

Synonyms

• glasshouse [chiefly British]
• greenhouse
• hothouse

Examples of conservatory in a Sentence

the Peabody Conservatory of Music

the college's conservatory is entirely devoted to cultivating and displaying orchids

Recent Examples on the Web

Miles Teller is a freshman drummer at a major conservatory who wants to be the next Buddy Rich, and J.K. Simmons won an Oscar playing the kid's abusive, perfectionist jazz band director from hell. —Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 22 Jan. 2025

Greenfield was the director and taught piano at the conservatory. —Rebecca San Juan, Miami Herald, 22 Jan. 2025

Courtesy of Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens Also on-site at the conservatory is The Garden Table, an immersive dining experience, serving an Eight Treasures Dim Sum Platter Lunch or a Prosperity Dinner Set from the in-house Pan-Asian restaurant Noodles. —Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 21 Jan. 2025

Over the past nine years, only a handful of senior students at the conservatory have been able to play the valuable violin, as Andrea Kalyn, president of the New England Conservatory, tells Bloomberg. —Ella Feldman, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin conservātōrium "something that preserves" (Medieval Latin, "fish pond"), from Latin conservāre "to save or keep from danger, preserve" + -tōrium, suffix of places (from neuter of -tōrius, deverbal adjective suffix originally forming derivatives from agent nouns ending in -tōr-, -tor); (sense 2) after Italian conservatorio, originally denoting a home for foundlings and orphans who were given a musical education — more at conserve entry 1

First Known Use

1664, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

conservatory

noun

con·​ser·​va·​to·​ry kən-ˈsər-və-ˌtōr-ē 

-ˌtȯr-

plural conservatories

1

: a greenhouse for growing or displaying plants

2

: a place of instruction in some special study (as music)