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Muse on this: the word muse comes from the Anglo-French verb muser, meaning "to gape, to idle, to muse." 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 the Medieval Latin noun musus, meaning "mouth of an animal"—also source of the word muzzle. The noun muse, which in lowercase refers to a source of inspiration and when capitalized to one of the sister goddesses of Greek mythology, has no etymological link: that word comes from the Greek Mousa. The ultimate Greek origin of the word museum translates as "of the Muses."
Examples of muse in a Sentence
Chris Boccia, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2025
Fed Chair Powell mostly reiterated the case for dropping short-term rates toward neutral while also musing about halting the shrinkage of the Fed balance sheet soon.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2025
Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2025
The filmmaker credited her as his muse during that portion of his career.
—Duane Byrge, HollywoodReporter, 11 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for muse
Cite this Entry
“Muse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/muse. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
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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