muse
pronunciation
How to pronounce muse in British English:
UK [mju:z]
How to pronounce muse in American English:
US [mjuz]
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- Noun:
- the source of an artist's inspiration
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- Verb:
- reflect deeply on a subject
Word Origin
- muse (v.)
- "to reflect, to be absorbed in thought," mid-14c., from Old French muser (12c.) "to ponder, dream, wonder; loiter, waste time," literally "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-Roman *musa "snout," of unknown origin. Probably influenced in sense by muse (n.). Related: Mused; musing.
- muse (n.)
- late 14c., protectors of the arts, from Old French Muse and directly from Latin Musa, from Greek Mousa, "the Muse," also "music, song," from PIE root *men- "to think, remember" (see mind (n.)). Meaning "inspiring goddess of a particular poet" is from late 14c. The traditional names and specialties of the nine Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, are: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (love poetry, lyric art), Euterpe (music, especially flute), Melpomene (tragedy), Polymnia (hymns), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), Urania (astronomy).
Synonym
Example
- 1. Inditex will need a new muse , some say .
- 2. I forget to spend a few minutes flirting with my muse .
- 3. The sloth-like times come when we lose touch with our inner muse .
- 4. He must be bribed with a pipe of wine ; and perhaps another poet is called away from his muse to gauge that very pipe .
- 5. And this is when many a researcher would love to get their hands on leonardo da vinci 's most famous muse , in order to find out more about how she was painted .