adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   That which preserves from injury. obsolete

   "a conservatory of life"

2. 2
   A large greenhouse or hothouse for the display of plants
3. 3
   a greenhouse in which plants are arranged in a pleasing manner wordnet
4. 4
   A storehouse.
5. 5
   A glass-walled and -roofed room in a house Ireland, UK

Show 3 more definitions

6. 6
   a schoolhouse with special facilities for fine arts wordnet
7. 7
   A music school or a drama school
8. 8
   the faculty and students of a school specializing in one of the fine arts wordnet

Adjective

1. 1
   Having the quality of preserving from loss, decay, or injury.
2. 2
   Relating to conservation. rare

Synonyms

All synonyms

conservatoirehothouseacademy of musicacting schoolalcovearbor

Example

More examples

"I've got a diploma from the Paris Conservatory of Music."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From conserve + -atory.

Etymology 2

Anglicized form of French conservatoire; ultimately equivalent to Etymology 1

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.