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• muse
  muse

  verb (used without object)

  to think or meditate in silence, as on some subject.
• Muse
  Muse

  noun
• MUSE
  MUSE

  abbreviation

  Mainstream U.S. English: a dialect of American English that is considered to be standard or unmarked by dialectal variation in pronunciation, syntactic structures, or vocabulary, and that is heard in newscasts and taught in schools.

Trivia Time

Which of the following was a Greek Muse associated with the arts?

Test Your Knowledge

muse

¹ American  

[myooz] / myuz /

verb (used without object)

mused, musing

1. to think or meditate in silence, as on some subject.

   Synonyms:

   deliberate, contemplate, ponder, dream, think, ruminate, cogitate

2. Archaic. to gaze meditatively or wonderingly.

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verb (used with object)

mused, musing

1. to meditate on.

   Synonyms:

   deliberate, contemplate, ponder

2. to comment thoughtfully or ruminate upon.

Muse ² American  

[myooz] / myuz /

noun

1. Classical Mythology.

   1. 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.

   2. any goddess presiding over a particular art.

2. (sometimes lowercase) the goddess or the power regarded as inspiring a poet, artist, thinker, or the like.

3. (lowercase) the genius or powers characteristic of a poet.

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MUSE ³ American  

abbreviation

1. Mainstream U.S. English: a dialect of American English that is considered to be standard or unmarked by dialectal variation in pronunciation, syntactic structures, or vocabulary, and that is heard in newscasts and taught in schools.

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muse ¹ British  

/ mjuːz /

verb

1. to reflect (about) or ponder (on), usually in silence

2. (intr) to gaze thoughtfully

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noun

1. archaic a state of abstraction

Muse ² British  

/ mjuːz /

noun

1. Greek myth any of nine sister goddesses, each of whom was regarded as the protectress of a different art or science. Daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the nine are Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania

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muse ³ British  

/ mjuːz /

noun

1. a goddess that inspires a creative artist, esp a poet

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Other Word Forms

• museful
  adjective
• musefully
  adverb
• muser
  noun

Etymology

Origin of muse¹

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

Origin of Muse²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English Muse, from Middle French, from Latin Mūsa, from Greek Moûsa

Origin of MUSE³

First recorded in 1995–2000; by abbreviation

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

Muse said he “would have hoped for a much larger, multiyear announcement” on buybacks based on Nvidia’s plans for free cash flow.

From MarketWatch • May 22, 2026

Muse said he expects Nvidia to return $1 trillion to shareholders over the next five years, making its latest share authorization appear a bit dismal.

From MarketWatch • May 22, 2026

The model, called Muse Spark, was released in early April and is competitive with models from other leading labs, according to evaluations from both Meta and outside testers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026

For Meta, the deal relieves any concerns about a bottleneck in computing capacity as it rushes out new AI model releases following the launch of its Muse Spark earlier this month.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026

The Muse of Nightmares, tormentor of Weep, spooked from a dream by a sweet librarian?

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor