to think or meditate in silence, as on some subject.
Archaic. to gaze meditatively or wonderingly.
to meditate on.
to comment thoughtfully or ruminate upon.
Classical Mythology.
any of a number of sister goddesses, originally given as Aoede (song), Melete (meditation), and Mneme (memory), but latterly and more commonly as the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne who presided over various arts: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (lyric poetry), Euterpe (music), Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia (religious music), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), and Urania (astronomy); identified by the Romans with the Camenae.
any goddess presiding over a particular art.
(sometimes lowercase) the goddess or the power regarded as inspiring a poet, artist, thinker, or the like.
(lowercase) the genius or powers characteristic of a poet.
to reflect (about) or ponder (on), usually in silence
(intr) to gaze thoughtfully
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English musen “to mutter, gaze meditatively on, be astonished,” from Middle French muser, perhaps ultimately derivative of Medieval Latin mūsum “snout”; muzzle
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English Muse, from Middle French, from Latin Mūsa, from Greek Moûsa
First recorded in 1995–2000; by abbreviation
As a verb, to muse is to consider something thoughtfully. As a noun, it means a person — especially a woman — who is a source of artistic inspiration. In mythology, the Muses were nine goddesses who symbolized the arts and sciences. Today, a muse is a person who serves as an artist's inspiration. Often filmmakers talk about a certain actor being a muse — meaning the actor inspired a movie. Writers, painters, musicians, and other artists have muses. Muse can also refer to thinking deeply. If you muse about something, you're giving it serious thought. You can't muse in five seconds. People muse on certain ideas for years.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The muse spark API will be coming soon! we have been thrilled with the amount of excitement amongst developers who want to try muse spark inside their agentic harnesses,” he wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
It led former England captain Michael Vaughan to muse this week whether Sooryavanshi could become the "greatest striker of a cricket ball of all time".
From BBC • May 7, 2026
These Christophers were the result of Julian trying to copy his own style, to regain the ebullient spark lost after his muse left his side.
From Salon • Apr. 17, 2026
He infuriated his parents by marrying Mary Lou Taylor when he was only 17; she became Stewart’s muse and occasional writing partner.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
Using her as our muse, the students will begin compiling the diaries they’ve been keeping into a collaborative book.
From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers
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.
