Menagerie

I recently (as in, within the last few minutes, yes I have a terrible sleep schedule) had the honor of using this word. It is a roundabout way of saying varied, in my day to day usage of the word, although it occasionally gets used in its primary context.

According to the AHD, a menagerie is "a collection of live wild animals on exhibition." However, I more frequently use it to mean a "diverse or miscellaneous group".

The Etymology for this one is a bit confounding, as it passes through French Three times before it reached English. Its most recent root was the French ménagerie, which is derived from the Old French mesnage, meaning a menage. Having no idea what a menage was outside of its more... Ahem... specific usage in our language, I was intent on finding the etymology of this as well. Turns out, a menage is, according to the AHD, "People living together as a unit; a household", which certainly answered some curiosities I had. It's etymology, as shown before, starts with the Old French mesnage. That, in turn, came from an alternation of the Old French word maneir, meaning to stay. It was altered by the word maisnie, meaning "family", so it's obvious how the two blended together. Maneir, lastly, came from the Latin manere, meaning "to remain". (AHD)