noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of musician
1350–1400; Middle English musicien < Middle French. See music, -ian
Explanation
Anyone who plays music can be called a musician. Whether you're playing the cello on stage at Carnegie Hall or playing the harmonica on a subway platform, you're a musician. While this word is most often used to mean a professional instrumentalist, it can also refer to someone who writes or sings music, and even your brother's friend who occasionally plays the drums in a Led Zeppelin cover band. Musician originally meant "one skilled in music," from the Latin musica, "the art of music and poetry," which has a Greek root, mousike, "art of the Muses."
Vocabulary lists containing musician
List 2
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -an
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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:
Crofter and musician Amy Henderson, from Kiltarlity, added: "It is just deflating. Life is hard enough as it is."
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Gilbert died Sunday morning “peacefully in his sleep,” the band and his wife, musician Lisa Cimorelli, announced on social media.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
Gabe Dalporto made his first trips to Guitar Center as a young man in New York City, during visits from his musician father.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Motown inspired musician Jalen Ngonda took home the prize for best breakthrough act, while Jim Legxacy bagged best EP for black British music, which included hit tracks like '06 Wayne Rooney.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
“Let him be a musician if he wants to, and not plague his life out sending him to college, when he hates to go.”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
On a new episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy explains how Dolly blazed a trail for today’s country/pop crossover musicians like “Choosin’ Texas” singer Ella Langley.
From Slate ● Sep. 24, 2026
“I really think you need the muscular sound of 60 musicians in a room, and in the case of ‘The Orville,’ sometimes 90.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
In organizing this porchfest, there are acknowledgment statements for both musicians and homeowners who permit the use of their property.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
Grammy-nominated Wexler, who has co-written songs for Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and other musicians, formed JYT last year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
This creates an audible, predictable pulse that helps the musicians to coordinate what they are doing so that they sound good together.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
Definitions 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.
