museum

[myoo-zee-uhm]

noun

1. a building or place where works of art, scientific specimens, or other objects of permanent value are kept and displayed.

museum

/ mjuːˈzɪəm /

noun

1. a place or building where objects of historical, artistic, or scientific interest are exhibited, preserved, or studied

Other Word Forms

• intermuseum adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of museum¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of museum¹

C17: via Latin from Greek Mouseion home of the Muses, from Mousa _Muse

Example Sentences

The items had been held in the Vatican Museum's ethnographic collection, known as the Anima Mundi museum.

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"I'm really hoping it will end up in a museum - it would be great to see it in a museum for the public to see," said Mr Griza.

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To teach himself to paint, he copied from old masters in the Louvre and from plants and taxidermic animals in Paris’s natural history museums.

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The fruits of that discovery are the nearly 80 works on view at the Bronx Museum of the Arts in “Ministry: Reverend Joyce McDonald,” the sculptor’s first solo museum exhibition.

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Washington is not only the US political capital but also a cultural hub with over a dozen free museums, many of which are renowned for their quality.

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Related Words

• building 
• foundation 
• gallery 
• hall 
• institution 
• library 
• salon