museum
[myoo-zee-uh m]
- a building or place where works of art, scientific specimens, or other objects of permanent value are kept and displayed.
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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
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
buildingfoundationsalonlibrarygalleryinstitutionhallmenagerierepositoryexhibitiontreasurydepositoryvaultstorehouseExamples from the Web for museum
Contemporary Examples
Prado was the first name I recognized here since I used to live a few blocks from the Prado museum in Madrid when I was 20.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left BehindBrin-Jonathan Butler
December 19, 2014
The question implicit in this effort, “If you were starting a museum, what would you put in your collection?”
Blues music is often treated like a museum piece, a relic from a bygone day, but this band will make you want to get up and dance.
The British Museum claims that “cultural diplomacy” can somehow discourage human rights violators.
The museum, as a public institution, must answer these questions.
Historical Examples
The British Museum, indeed, was another of Esmond's birthplaces.
De Libris: Prose and VerseAustin Dobson
You did not see, then, what Miss Delacour says of the lady who took her to that Museum?
Tales And Novels, Volume 3 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
And now it is in a museum in Paris, far from its old owner's home.
Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, MycenaeJennie Hall
You will find it in the Museum, "I hae been at Crookie-den," etc.
The Letters of Robert BurnsRobert Burns
There also was the museum or university, in which many learned men were at work.
Introductory American HistoryHenry Eldridge Bourne
museum
- a place or building where objects of historical, artistic, or scientific interest are exhibited, preserved, or studied
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Word Origin
C17: via Latin from Greek Mouseion home of the Muses, from Mousa Muse
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for museum
n.
1610s, "the university building in Alexandria," from Latin museum "library, study," from Greek mouseion "place of study, library or museum, school of art or poetry," originally "a seat or shrine of the Muses," from Mousa "Muse" (see muse (n.)). Earliest use in reference to English institutions was of libraries (e.g. the British Museum); sense of "building to display objects" first recorded 1680s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper