musette

[ myoo-zet ]

/ myuˈzɛt /

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noun

Also called mu·sette bag . a small leather or canvas bag with a shoulder strap, used for carrying personal belongings, food, etc., while hiking, marching, or the like.

a French bagpipe of the 17th and early 18th centuries, with several chambers and drones, and with the wind supplied by a bellows rather than a blowpipe.

a woodwind instrument similar to but smaller than a shawm.

a short musical piece with a drone bass, often forming the middle section of a gavotte.

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Origin of musette

First recorded in 1350–1400; def. 1 was first recorded in 1920–25; Middle English, from Middle French, equivalent to muse “bagpipe” (derivative of muser “to play the bagpipe,” from Latin mussāre “to hum”) + -ette; see origin at muse,-ette

Words nearby musette

Mus.D., muse, museful, museology, Muses, musette, musette bag, museum, museum beetle, museumgoer, museum piece

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use musette in a sentence

A small French musette of ivory, with silver keys, having belonged to the painter Vanloo.
Musical Myths and Facts, Volume I (of 2)|Carl Engel
But the next season found me anxious to renew the adventure, to again enjoy the pleasures of the bal musette.
The Merry-Go-Round|Carl Van Vechten
He soaked these in oil and stowed them in a musette bag which he snapped to the D-rings of the pack.
Cat and Mouse|Ralph Williams
First off, I wouldn't answer the phone; but Musette stood by me with it in her hand and just made me.
Believe You Me!|Nina Wilcox Putnam

No sooner had Ma and me ate breakfast next morning than in came Musette and says there are two gentlemen outside wants to see me.
Believe You Me!|Nina Wilcox Putnam

British Dictionary definitions for musette

musette

/ (mjuːˈzɛt, French myzɛt) /

noun

a type of bagpipe with a bellows popular in France during the 17th and 18th centuries

a dance, with a drone bass originally played by a musette

Word Origin for musette

C14: from Old French, diminutive of muse bagpipe

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