conservatory

Everyday

1. A room with glass walls and a glass roof, built onto a house, where people sit in the sun and grow plants. tree →
2. A large glass building in a park or garden for growing tender plants; a big greenhouse. tree →
3. (also conservatoire) A school or college for training musicians, singers or actors. tree →

In the lessons

Many British, Irish and Australian homes have a conservatory at the back. In big old houses like Toad Hall a conservatory held palms, ferns and exotic flowers. In science, a conservatory works like a greenhouse: sunlight comes in through the glass and warms the air, which keeps plants growing. In the music sense: a gifted violinist may study at a conservatory.

Examples

• We have breakfast in the conservatory when it's sunny. tree →
• The conservatory was full of orange trees and ferns. tree →
• It gets very hot in the conservatory in summer. tree →
• My piano teacher trained at a famous music conservatory. tree →
• The botanical gardens have a huge Victorian conservatory. tree →
• Dad grows chillies in the conservatory because it's warm there. tree →

Note

Countable; plural «conservatories» (y → ies). Not the same as «conservative» or «conservation». In the USA the music sense is more common; in the UK the glass-room sense.