Aquariums

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A container filled with water that serves to house aquatic life for purposes of observation and display
2. An installation that maintains a suitable environment for fish and plants, enabling their exhibition and understanding
3. A transparent or clear container designed to hold water and aquatic creatures for viewing or care

Etymology: Plural of "aquarium", so the history of the singular applies. The Latin "aquarium" was a neuter form of "aquarius", meaning "of or pertaining to water", built from "aqua" (water) and the suffix "-arium", which marks a place or container for something. Ancient Romans used the root in "aquarius" for water-related people and things, and "aquarium" in Latin was a neutral adjective tied to that sense. English borrowed the word from Latin, and it has a close relative in "ewer", a water jug, which descends from the same Latin root through a different path. Doublets like this, where one word came in by two routes, are common in English. The modern sense, a glass tank for living fish and plants, is a later development. Its popular origin story, that naturalist Philip Henry Gosse blended "aquatic" and "vivarium" to coin it, is claimed but not firmly established, so treat it as a suggestion rather than a fact.

Synonyms: fish tanks, marine habitats