17 results for: muse

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

muse

Audio Help [myooz] Pronunciation Key verb, mused, mus·ing.

–verb (used without object)

1.	to think or meditate in silence, as on some subject.

2.	Archaic. to gaze meditatively or wonderingly.

–verb (used with object)

3.	to meditate on.

4.	to comment thoughtfully or ruminate upon.

[Origin: 1300–50; ME musen to mutter, gaze meditatively on, be astonished < MF muser, perh. ult. deriv. of ML mūsum muzzle

]

—Related forms

muser, noun

—Synonyms 1. cogitate, ruminate, think; dream. 1, 3. ponder, contemplate, deliberate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
muse

To learn more about muse visit Britannica.com

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Muse

Audio Help [myooz] Pronunciation Key

–noun

Classical Mythology.

any of a number of sister goddesses, originally given as Aoede (song), Melete (meditation), and Mneme (memory), but latterly and more commonly as the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne who presided over various arts: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (lyric poetry), Euterpe (music), Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia (religious music), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), and Urania (astronomy); identified by the Romans with the Camenae.

b.	any goddess presiding over a particular art.

2.	(sometimes lowercase) the goddess or the power regarded as inspiring a poet, artist, thinker, or the like.

3.	(lowercase) the genius or powers characteristic of a poet.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME Muse < MF < L Mūsa < Gk Moûsa

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

muse Audio Help   (myōōz) Pronunciation Key
v.   mused, mus·ing, mus·es

v.   intr.
To be absorbed in one's thoughts; engage in meditation.

v.   tr.
To consider or say thoughtfully: mused that it might take longer to drive than walk.

n.   A state of meditation.

[Middle English musen, from Old French muser (possibly from mus, snout, from Medieval Latin mūsum) and or of Germanic origin.]

mus'er n.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Muse Audio Help (myōōz) Pronunciation Key
n.

Greek Mythology Any of the nine daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, each of whom presided over a different art or science.
muse
1. A guiding spirit.
2. A source of inspiration.
muse A poet.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin Mūsa, from Greek Mousa; see men-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

Word History: The Muse has inspired English poetry since Chaucer invoked her in 1374. Muse comes from Latin Mūsa, from Greek Mousa. There are Greek dialect forms mōsa and moisa, and all three come from an original *montya. As to the further origins of this form, a clue is provided by the name of Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory and mother of the Muses. Her name is the Greek noun mnēmosunē "memory," which comes from *mnā-, an extended form of the Greek and Indo-European root *men-, "to think." This is the root from which we derive amnesia (from Greek), mental (from Latin), and mind (from Germanic). The reconstructed form *montya that is the ancestor of Greek Mousa could then mean something like "having mental power."

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
muse (v.)

"to be absorbed in thought," 1340, from O.Fr. muser (12c.) "to ponder, loiter, waste time," lit. "to stand with one's nose in the air" (or, possibly, "to sniff about" like a dog who has lost the scent), from muse "muzzle," from Gallo-Romance *musa "snout," of unknown origin. Probably influenced in sense by Muse.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Muse

c.1374, protectors of the arts, from L. Musa, from Gk. Mousa, lit. "muse, music, song," from PIE root *mon-/*men-/*mn- "to think, remember" (see mind (n.)). The names of the nine Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (q.v.), and their specialties are traditionally: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (love poetry, lyric art), Euterpe (music, especially flute), Melpomene (tragedy), Polymnia (hymns), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), Urania (astronomy).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

muse
noun
1.	in ancient Greek mythology any of 9 daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne; protector of an art or science
2.	the source of an artist's inspiration; "Euterpe was his muse"
verb
1.	reflect deeply on a subject; "I mulled over the events of the afternoon"; "philosophers have speculated on the question of God for thousands of years"; "The scientist must stop to observe and start to excogitate"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version) - Cite This Source - Share This
muse [mjuːz] verb

to think about a matter usually without serious concentration

Arabic:	يَتأمَّل
Chinese (Simplified):	沉思
Chinese (Traditional):	沈思
Czech:	dumat
Danish:	fundere
Dutch:	mijmeren
Estonian:	meelisklema
Finnish:	mietiskellä
French:	songer
German:	die Muse
Greek:	συλλογίζομαι
Hungarian:	elmélkedik
Icelandic:	brjóta heilann um e-ð
Indonesian:	memikirkan
Italian:	riflettere

Japanese:	思にふける
Korean:	깊이 생각하다; 명상하다
Latvian:	pārdomāt; apcerēt
Lithuanian:	svarstyti, mintimis perkratinėti
Norwegian:	fundere, spekulere
Polish:	dumać
Portuguese (Brazil):	refletir
Portuguese (Portugal):	reflectir
Romanian:	a medita, a cugeta
Russian:	размышлять
Slovak:	dumať
Slovenian:	tuhtati
Spanish:	reflexionar, meditar
Swedish:	fundera, grubbla
Turkish:	düşünceye dalmak

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

Muse language
OR-parallel logic programming.
[Details?]
(1995-03-16)

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Muse, OK Zip code(s): 74949

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Muse

A*muse"\ ([.a]*m[=u]z"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Amused ([.a]*m[=u]zd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Amusing.] [F. amuser to make stay, to detain, to amuse, [`a] (L. ad) + OF. muser. See Muse, v.]

1. To occupy or engage the attention of; to lose in deep thought; to absorb; also, to distract; to bewilder. [Obs.]

Camillus set upon the Gauls when they were amused in receiving their gold. --Holland.

Being amused with grief, fear, and fright, he could not find the house. --Fuller.

2. To entertain or occupy in a pleasant manner; to stir with pleasing or mirthful emotions; to divert.

A group of children amusing themselves with pushing stones from the top [of the cliff], and watching as they plunged into the lake. --Gilpin.

3. To keep in expectation; to beguile; to delude.

He amused his followers with idle promises. --Johnson.

Syn: To entertain; gratify; please; divert; beguile; deceive; occupy.

Usage: To Amuse, Divert, Entertain. We are amused by that which occupies us lightly and pleasantly. We are entertained by that which brings our minds into agreeable contact with others, as conversation, or a book. We are diverted by that which turns off our thoughts to something of livelier interest, especially of a sportive nature, as a humorous story, or a laughable incident.

Whatever amuses serves to kill time, to lull the faculties, and to banish reflection. Whatever entertains usually awakens the understanding or gratifies the fancy. Whatever diverts is lively in its nature, and sometimes tumultuous in its effects. --Crabb.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Muse

Mor"sel\, n. [OF. morsel, F. morceau, LL. morsellus, a dim. fr. L. morsus a biting, bite, fr. mordere to bite; prob. akin to E. smart. See Smart, and cf. Morceau, Mordant, Muse, v., Muzzle, n.]

1. A little bite or bit of food. --Chaucer.

Every morsel to a satisfied hunger is only a new labor to a tired digestion. --South.

2. A small quantity; a little piece; a fragment.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Muse

Mo*sa"ic\, n. [F. mosa["i]que; cf. Pr. mozaic, musec, Sp. & Pg. mosaico, It. mosaico, musaico, LGr. ?, ?, L. musivum; all fr. Gr. ? belonging to the Muses. See Muse the goddess.]

1. (Fine Arts) A surface decoration made by inlaying in patterns small pieces of variously colored glass, stone, or other material; -- called also mosaic work.

2. A picture or design made in mosaic; an article decorated in mosaic.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Muse

Muce\, n. See Muse, and Muset.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Muse

Mu"sard\, n. [F., fr. muser to loiter, trifle. See Muse, v. i.] A dreamer; an absent-minded person. [Obs.] --Rom. of R.

Acronym Finder - Cite This Source - Share This

MUSE

MUSE: in Acronym Finder

View results from: Dictionary | Thesaurus | Encyclopedia | All Reference | the Web