muse Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun in ancient Greek mythology any of 9 daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne; protector of an art or science
  2. noun the source of an artist's inspiration
    • Euterpe was his muse
  3. verb reflect deeply on a subject
    ponder; ruminate; mull; think over; reflect; contemplate; meditate; chew over; mull over; excogitate; speculate.
    • 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

WordNet

Muse noun
Etymology
From F. musse. See Muset.
Definitions
  1. A gap or hole in a hedge, hence, wall, or the like, through which a wild animal is accustomed to pass; a muset.
    Find a hare without a muse. Old Prov.
Muse noun
Etymology
F. Muse, L. Musa, Gr. . Cf. Mosaic, n., Music.
Definitions
  1. (Class. Myth.) One of the nine goddesses who presided over song and the different kinds of poetry, and also the arts and sciences; -- often used in the plural.
    Granville commands; your aid, O Muses, bring: What Muse for Granville can refuse to sing? Pope.
    ✍ The names of the Muses were Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polymnia or Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania.
  2. A particular power and practice of poetry. Shak.
  3. A poet; a bard. R. Milton.
Muse intransitive verb
Etymology
F. muser to loiter or trifle, orig., to stand with open mouth, fr. LL. musus, morsus, muzzle, snout, fr. L. morsus a biting, bite, fr. mordere to bite. See Morsel, and cf. Amuse, Muzzle, n.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Mused ; present participle & verbal noun Musing
Definitions
  1. To think closely; to study in silence; to meditate. "Thereon mused he." Chaucer.
    He mused upon some dangerous plot. Sir P. Sidney.
  2. To be absent in mind; to be so occupied in study or contemplation as not to observe passing scenes or things present; to be in a brown study. Daniel.
  3. To wonder. Obs. Spenser. B. Jonson. Syn. -- To consider; meditate; ruminate. See Ponder.
Muse transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To think on; to meditate on.
    Come, then, expressive Silence, muse his praise. Thomson.
  2. To wonder at. Obs. Shak.
Muse noun
Definitions
  1. Contemplation which abstracts the mind from passing scenes; absorbing thought; hence, absence of mind; a brown study. Milton.
  2. Wonder, or admiration. Obs. Spenser.

Webster 1913