museum
Americannoun
-
museums
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of museum
1605–15; < Latin mūsēum place sacred to the Muses, building devoted to learning or the arts (referring especially to the scholarly institute founded in Alexandria about 280 b.c.) < Greek Mouseîon, equivalent to Moûs ( a ) Muse + -eion suffix of place
Explanation
A museum is a place where interesting objects are displayed — like paintings, historical documents, and dinosaur skeletons. There are all kinds of museums. Art museums are some of the most well-known, such as the Louvre in Paris. The Natural History Museum, with its dinosaur skeletons and stuffed bears and lions, is one of New York's most famous. In Washington, DC, the Smithsonian is a group of impressive museums. Around the country, there are museums dedicated to sports, African-American culture, spies, and just about everything else. At any museum, you'll find a lot of tourists.
Vocabulary lists containing museum
"A Suitcase of Seaweed" and "Immigrants Today"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for May 7–May 13, 2022
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Unit 5
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Four Renaissance paintings of "extraordinary value" have been stolen from a museum in Sicily, Italy's culture minister has said.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
In the AI-powered future Fogel envisions, the company will flag in advance whether it is going to rain the day of your boat tour or be sunny when you plan to go to the museum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Paintings by Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse worth over $10.4 million which were stolen from an Italian museum in March have been recovered, police said Friday.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
The full-service restaurant and bar features classic American cuisine with California-sourced ingredients and is located at the top of the museum with sweeping city views.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Perugia would soon leave the glazing firm, but he’d gotten to know the workers at the Louvre and he still visited the museum.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Mala Wangzi has opened pop-up museums around the country, held more than 4,000 latiao-themed weddings for superfan couples, and sponsored e-sport events, music festivals, and animation conventions.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
After a bigger splash at the New York World’s Fair in 1964, Mold-A-Ramas proliferated across the U.S., popping up in zoos, museums and anywhere tourists might exchange a coin for a toy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
The museums say there will be a noticeable difference in temperature and light levels.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Its completion followed two years of consultation between Schwimmer and Triebold Paleontology Inc., a company that creates fossil skeleton models for museums, universities and attractions around the world.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
First they see some museums: in Lille, France, and in Ghent and Antwerp in Belgium.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
