noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of musician
1350–1400; Middle English musicien < Middle French. See music, -ian
Explanation
Anyone who plays music can be called a musician. Whether you're playing the cello on stage at Carnegie Hall or playing the harmonica on a subway platform, you're a musician. While this word is most often used to mean a professional instrumentalist, it can also refer to someone who writes or sings music, and even your brother's friend who occasionally plays the drums in a Led Zeppelin cover band. Musician originally meant "one skilled in music," from the Latin musica, "the art of music and poetry," which has a Greek root, mousike, "art of the Muses."
Vocabulary lists containing musician
List 2
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -an
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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.
Musician Morris Day, who once collaborated with Prince and portrayed his musical rival in the movie "Purple Rain," also denied involvement with the event.
From Barron's • May 28, 2026
Musician and DJ Harley said he usually travelled to Manchester once a month for hair care as there were "not a lot of places in Wrexham that do afro hair".
From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026
Musician Post Malone’s “famous” childhood home in Texas has hit the market for $549,000—over a decade after he traded the Lone Star State for California amid his stratospheric rise to stardom.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 18, 2026
Musician Victor Estevez said because tourism has been "a lifeline for all Cubans...if that is affected, then we are really going to be in trouble."
From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026
“All right, guys. Musician posture: backs straight, chests open, feet on the floor, eyes on me. Let’s take ‘Pirate Medley’ from rehearsal letter B. I want to hear crisp, clear notes and a steady beat.
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
