Swannery

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A place, often on a river or lake, where swans are kept, bred and protected
2. An enclosed area or waterside site set aside for raising and caring for swans
3. The grounds or water area where a colony of swans is maintained and observed

Etymology: A swannery is a place where swans are kept, and the word is a plain combination of "swan" and the suffix "-ery", which English uses to name a place or collection associated with something. "Swan" itself is an inherited Germanic word, descended from Old English "swan", so the new coinage simply attaches a familiar English ending to an ancient native noun. The suffix "-ery" has a longer and more tangled path. It comes through Old French "-erie" and "-ie" from Latin "-aria" and "-arius", which carried the sense of a place or a trade, and English adopted it in many words such as "bakery" and "brewery". Because it is so productive, English speakers could attach it to almost any noun, which is how "swannery" was formed from a simple animal name rather than borrowed from another language.