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A museum is a place where interesting objects are displayed — like paintings, historical documents, and dinosaur skeletons.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"
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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:
The results of this analysis, as well as previously unseen archive material about the gem's history and theft, form part of the exhibition, according to the museum.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
It had been collected in 2011 by Dr. Zac Loughman and students from West Liberty University, making the discovery possible through the examination of existing museum specimens.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
Bloomer also emphasized that the investigation would not have been possible without museum collections.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
In about three minutes, the museum lost its main attraction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
In response, the museum had decided to put its most valuable works behind glass.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
The artworks come from over 30 lenders, mostly private collectors and smaller museums, and will never be together again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Even if museums or individual artworks are alarmed, the real chase tends to begin only after the thieves have fled, Kelly said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The ban could apply to parks, beaches, museums, shopping centres, schools, daycare centres, healthcare facilities, gyms and public events.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
The UK government said on Tuesday that national museums would remain free for foreign visitors, after previously floating the idea of charging tourists an entry fee to buoy the cash-strapped sector.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
There would be libraries everywhere, and theaters and museums, parks and palaces—why, it was like something out of a book!
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
