Smithsonian Institution

American

[smith-soh-nee-uhn] / smɪθˈsoʊ ni ən /

noun

an institution in Washington, D.C., founded 1846 with a grant left by James Smithson, for the increase and diffusion of knowledge: U.S. national museum and repository.

Smithsonian Institution British

/ smɪθˈsəʊnɪən /

noun

a national museum and institution in Washington, D.C., founded in 1846 from a bequest by James Smithson, primarily concerned with ethnology, zoology, and astrophysics

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Smithsonian Institution Cultural

A group of over a dozen museums and research and publication facilities, such as the National Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of History and Technology, the National Zoo, and the National Gallery of Art. Many of the Smithsonian's buildings are on the Washington Mall. The institution is named after James Smithson, an Englishman whose bequest enabled its founding in the nineteenth century.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He was scheduled to speak in Baltimore, deliver a presentation at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, and attend meetings in Philadelphia before coming back to New York.

From Literature

In 1886 an American naval ship brought statues, wooden carvings, feather headdresses and stone tools to the Smithsonian Institution.

From The Wall Street Journal

Emma said she would be meeting a curator at St Fagan's Museum in Cardiff next week to discuss the find and an expert from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC had already dated the shoes to about 1900 by examining photos.

From BBC

This work was supported by a collaborative agreement between the Smithsonian Institution and Qatar Museums and received additional funding from the National Museum of Natural History and the Qatar National Research Fund.

From Science Daily

The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, a group of coin experts, artists and bipartisan political appointees, consulted historians, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution and others.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023