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definitions

muse

[myooz]
||

verb (used without object), mused, mus·ing.

to think or meditate in silence, as on some subject.
Archaic. to gaze meditatively or wonderingly.

verb (used with object), mused, mus·ing.

to meditate on.
to comment thoughtfully or ruminate upon.

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RELATED WORDS

ponder, ruminate, brood, consider, deliberate, feel, percolate, moon, roll, reflect, contemplate, meditate, revolve, weigh, cogitate, speculate, think

Origin of muse

1300–50; Middle English musen to mutter, gaze meditatively on, be astonished < Middle French muser, perhaps ultimately derivative of Medieval Latin mūsum muzzle
Related formsmus·er, noun
Can be confusedmews muse

Synonyms for muse

1. cogitate, ruminate, think; dream. 1, 3. ponder, contemplate, deliberate.

Muse

[myooz]

noun

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.
(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.

Origin of Muse

1350–1400; Middle English Muse < Middle French < Latin Mūsa < Greek Moûsa
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for muses

Contemporary Examples of muses

Historical Examples of muses

  • If this be the test, I am willing to be tried with Hipparete at the court of the Muses.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • The Graces were often worshipped in the same temple with the Muses.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • The muses, like vines, may be pruned, but not with a hatchet.

  • As for the muses, they have as much an idea of a rhinoceros as of a poet.

  • They are almost the only favour the muses have conferred on me in that country.

British Dictionary definitions for muses

muse

1

verb

(when intr, often foll by on or about) to reflect (about) or ponder (on), usually in silence
(intr) to gaze thoughtfully

noun

archaic a state of abstraction
Derived Formsmuser, nounmuseful, adjectivemusefully, adverb

Word Origin for muse

C14: from Old French muser, perhaps from mus snout, from Medieval Latin mūsus

muse

2

noun

a goddess that inspires a creative artist, esp a poet

Word Origin for muse

C14: from Old French, from Latin Mūsa, from Greek Mousa a Muse

Muse

noun

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
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
Word Origin and History for muses

muse

v.

"to reflect, to be absorbed in thought," mid-14c., from Old French muser (12c.) "to ponder, dream, wonder; loiter, waste time," literally "to stand with one's nose in the air" (or, possibly, "to sniff about" like a dog who has lost the scent), from muse "muzzle," from Gallo-Romance *musa "snout," of unknown origin. Probably influenced in sense by muse (n.). Related: Mused; musing.

muse

n.

late 14c., protectors of the arts, from Old French Muse and directly from Latin Musa, from Greek Mousa, "the Muse," also "music, song," from PIE root *men- "to think, remember" (see mind (n.)). Meaning "inspiring goddess of a particular poet" is from late 14c. The traditional names and specialties of the nine Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, are: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (love poetry, lyric art), Euterpe (music, especially flute), Melpomene (tragedy), Polymnia (hymns), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), Urania (astronomy).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Culture definitions for muses

Muses

Nine goddesses of classical mythology who presided over learning and the arts. They were especially associated with poetry. Ancient Greek or Roman writers would often begin their poems by asking for the aid of the Muses in their composition.

Note

Writers and artists to this day speak of their “muse,” meaning their source of inspiration.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.