A clear glass or plastic container filled with water where people keep fish, water plants, or other small aquatic animals at home, school, or the office.
Lena feeds her goldfish every morning in the aquarium on her desk.
Bright green plants make the aquarium look like an underwater garden.
✦ Mid-19th century: from Latin ‘aqua’ meaning ‘water’, on the pattern of ‘terrarium’.
A public place or building where many kinds of live fish, sea creatures, and plants are displayed for people to visit and learn about aquatic life.
The class took a field trip to the city aquarium to see the sharks and sea turtles.
Tickets for the new downtown aquarium sold out on opening weekend.
✦ Same origin as the container sense, but extended to large public institutions in the late 19th century.
