muse

B2 Topic:People & Society

US /mjuz/ UK /mjuːz/ See IPA manual

Freq #13023

Meanings

1

noun
A person or thing that gives an artist ideas and inspiration.

The painter said his wife was his muse.
2

verb
To think about something carefully and quietly.

She sat by the window, musing on her plans for the future.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 verb · to think about something... meditate ponder

Word family

Forms musedmuses

Derived forms bemusemusefulmuselessmuselike

Related forms amusemusermuseum music musing

Simplified etymology

Muse, meaning “to reflect thoughtfully,” entered English in the Middle English period and probably originally referred to a person's facial expression; it is related to muzzle. It is unrelated to the classical Muses whose Greek name, mousa, gave rise to music and museum.

Etymology

From Middle English Muse, from Latin Musa, from Ancient Greek Μοῦσα (Moûsa).

*men- (think) Proto-Indo-European Muse Middle English Musa Latin Μοῦσα Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# muse

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /mjuz/
**IPA (UK):** /mjuːz/
**Frequency rank:** 13023

## Meanings
1. A person or thing that gives an artist ideas and inspiration.
2. To think about something carefully and quietly.

## Examples
- The painter said his wife was his muse.
- She sat by the window, musing on her plans for the future.

## Derived Forms
- bemuse
- museful
- museless
- muselike

## Related Forms
- amuse
- muser
- museum
- music
- musing

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *men- (think)
- Root: Muse
- Root: Musa
- Root: Μοῦσα

## Etymology
From Middle English Muse, from Latin Musa, from Ancient Greek Μοῦσα (Moûsa).

## AI Etymology
Muse comes from Middle English Muse, from Latin Musa, from Ancient Greek Μοῦσα (Moûsa). In present-day English its meanings include a person or thing that gives an artist ideas and inspiration and to think about something carefully and quietly. The historical chain runs through *men- (think) (Proto-Indo-European), Muse (Middle English), Musa (Latin), and Μοῦσα (Ancient Greek). Related and derived forms include amuse, muser, museum, and bemuse.

## Topics
- People & Society

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