Standard Lemma guide

terrarium

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /təˈɹɛəɹ.ɪ.əm/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /təˈɹɑɹ.i.əm/
  • General-American: /təˈɹɛɹ.i.əm/
  • Australian: /təˈɹeːɹ.i.əm/
  • New-Zealand: /tɘˈɹiəɹ.i.ɘm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An enclosure wherein small animals are displayed, usually with some plants, in a naturalistic setting.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A partially enclosed glass container for displaying plants, especially plants that need high humidity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a vivarium in which selected living plants are kept and observed

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: vivarium

History

Etymology

From Latin terra (“earth”) + -arium, by analogy with aquarium.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: тера́риум (terárium) — enclosure for displaying small animals
  • Czech: terárium — enclosure for displaying small animals
  • Finnish: terraario — enclosure for displaying small animals
  • German: Terrarium — enclosure for displaying small animals
  • Italian: terrario — enclosure for displaying small animals
  • Polish: terrarium — enclosure for displaying small animals
  • Romanian: terariu — enclosure for displaying small animals
  • Russian: террариум (terrarium) — enclosure for displaying small animals
  • Slovene: terarij — enclosure for displaying small animals
  • Spanish: terrario — enclosure for displaying small animals
  • Ukrainian: тера́рій (terárij) — enclosure for displaying small animals
  • Ukrainian: тера́ріум (terárium) — enclosure for displaying small animals
  • Finnish: terraario — glass container for displaying plants
  • German: Terrarium — glass container for displaying plants
  • Ukrainian: палюда́рій (paljudárij) — glass container for displaying plants
  • Ukrainian: палюда́ріум (paljudárium) — glass container for displaying plants