Volerie

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An establishment where birds are kept for show or breeding purposes
2. a place designed for the care and display of various avian species
3. an aviary that serves both educational and recreational functions for visitors

Etymology: Its root is the Latin "volare," "to fly," which also gave English "volatile," "volley," and "volant." Latin "volaria" meant a place for keeping birds, and this passed into French as "volière," an aviary. The French "volerie" originally meant falconry, the sport of hunting with trained birds, so the older sense concerned the training and flying of birds as much as their housing. English took the word in a form close to the French, and "volerie" survives as an older spelling of the modern "volery," which is now used mainly for a large aviary. The exact date of its first English use is uncertain, but the spelling reflects its French ancestry more directly than the modern form does.