wunderkammer
/ˈvʊndəˌkamə/
wunderkammer means A cabinet of scientific curiosities, especially during the late Renaissance. It carries an Arena rating of 1651, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, wunderkammer ranks #509 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #802 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #1,065 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #1,066 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
wunderkammer is pronounced /ˈvʊndəˌkamə/.
Why “wunderkammer” is a great word
WUNDERKAMMER — [Noun] A cabinet or room, especially from the Renaissance period, housing a collection of rare, diverse, and wondrous objects intended to represent the breadth of the natural world and human artifice. From German Wunderkammer, from Wunder ("wonder") + Kammer ("chamber, room"), literally meaning "room of wonders." Unlike a museum, which implies a formal, public system, or an archive, which is organized for documentary reference, a wunderkammer is a personal, encyclopedic cabinet of curiosities meant for sensory engagement. It is the cold gleam of a polished nautilus shell, the jarred weight of a two-headed calf, and the sharp scent of a preserved crocodile—a private theology of curiosity that finds the divine in the strange catalog of creation.
Etymology
From German Wunderkammer (literally “room of wonders”).
noun
- A cabinet of scientific curiosities, especially during the late Renaissance.e.g.“Despite the frequent bric-à-brac dimension to such collections, these theatres of nature invited an appreciation of nature rather different from the Renaissance Wunderkammer which had preceded them.” — 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 207:
- A place where a collection of curiosities and rarities is exhibited.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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