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Muse on this: the word muse comes from the Anglo-French muser, meaning “to gape, to idle, to muse.” (Amuse has the same source.) The image evoked is one of a thinker so absorbed in thought as to be unconsciously open-mouthed. Those who muse on their pets’ musings might like to know that muser is ultimately from Latin musus, meaning “mouth of an animal”—also source of the word muzzle. The sister goddesses of Greek mythology known as the Muses have no etymological link: that word, which in lowercase refers to a source of inspiration, comes from Greek Mousa. The ultimate Greek origin of the word museum translates as “of the Muses.”
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Examples of muse in a Sentence
Greg Evans, Deadline, 19 Nov. 2024
Greenfield mused in an interview.. Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.
—Lillian Rizzo,alex Sherman, CNBC, 31 Oct. 2024
Emma Baxter-Wright, Forbes, 21 Nov. 2024
The film gives Yoko her due as a true collaborator for whom the simple designation of wife and muse is insufficient.
—Richard Kuipers, Variety, 3 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Muse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/muse. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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muse
2 of 2 nounVerb
Middle English musen "to ponder," from early French muser "to gape, muse," Latin musus "mouth of an animal"
Noun
Middle English Muse "one of the nine goddesses of the arts," from early French Muse (same meaning), from Latin Musa (same meaning), from Greek Mousa "Muse"
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