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bestiary

bestiary

1 8.4
A game guide that lists creatures and gives their strengths and weaknesses
  • noun
  • /ˈbɛstɪˌɛri/
  • Jargon
: bestiario
  • If you've played the demo, know that the full game has a much bigger bestiary than the demo did.

Examples

  • He says you've added to your bestiary.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • The ensuing controversy and the author's precocity ensure that the Bestiary sells well.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • And this, this was once a bestiary.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • I've even had a player buy four books of an adventure path for me, and I use another player's Bestiary, so there's certainly some give and take.

    Blog text (30)
  • The game features a vast bestiary filled with unique monsters to battle.

  • In this bestiary, you will find detailed descriptions of every creature in the realm.

  • Players can consult the bestiary to learn about the abilities and weaknesses of different beasts.

Synonyms

catalog
vsbestiary
  • US
227 2.5

A list of items with details, often in a book

focuses specifically on creatures and monsters often for games or digital resources

How Detailed

database
  • Specialized
440 3.4
bestiary
  • Jargon
1 8.4
compendium
10 8.8
list
∞ 1.0
to index
23 4.2

Surface Forms

bestiary singular
bestiaries plural

Morphology

bestiary = beast (transparent) = besti + ary

The modern compendium sense is a direct extension of 'book/collection of beasts' formed from 'beast' + '-ary'.

Etymology

Bestiary comes from the Latin bestia 'beast'. Long ago it named a book of animal stories, and today it often means a modern 'list' or book of monsters in games, keeping the same idea of collecting creatures.