From Middle French muse, from Latin Mūsa, from Ancient Greek Μοῦσα (Moûsa).
Meanings
Of a person: a source of inspiration.
Yoko Ono was John Lennon's wife, lover, and muse.
(archaic) A poet; a bard.
So may some gentle Muse With lucky words favour my destined urn 1637 (date written; published 1638), John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC:
My toung-tide Muſe in manners holds her ſtill,
While comments of your praiſe richly compil'd,
Reſerue their Character with goulden quill,
And precious phraſe by all the Muſes fil’d. 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 85”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
pl muza (a source of inspiration) · tr ilham perisi (a source of inspiration) · uk му́за (a source of inspiration) · ro muză (a source of inspiration) · cy awen (a source of inspiration) · fi muusa (a source of inspiration) · es musa (a source of inspiration) · eo muzo (a source of inspiration) · he מוזה (a source of inspiration) · fi runotar (a source of inspiration) · sv musa (a source of inspiration) · fr muse (a source of inspiration) · ru му́за (a source of inspiration) · es estro (a source of inspiration) · br awen (a source of inspiration) · de Muse (a source of inspiration) · el μούσα (a source of inspiration) · fr égérie (a source of inspiration) · hu múzsa (a source of inspiration) · oc musa (a source of inspiration) · bg му́за (a source of inspiration) · pt musa (a source of inspiration) · cs múza (a source of inspiration) · it muse (a source of inspiration) · id ilham (a source of inspiration) · la Mūsa (a source of inspiration) · sh múza (a source of inspiration) · mi manawakura (a source of inspiration) · sh му́за (a source of inspiration) · ast musa (a source of inspiration) · ja ミューズ (a source of inspiration) · ko 뮤즈 (a source of inspiration) · lb Muse (a source of inspiration) · gl musa (a source of inspiration) · ca musa (a source of inspiration) · sk múza (a source of inspiration) · da muse (a source of inspiration) · be му́за (a source of inspiration) · nb muse (a source of inspiration) · tr esin (a source of inspiration) · cmn 繆斯 /缪斯 (a source of inspiration) · tr müz (a source of inspiration) · mk муза (a source of inspiration) · es numen (a source of inspiration) · ia musa (a source of inspiration) · nl muze (a source of inspiration)
And with this Alan fell into a muse, and for a long time sate^([sic]) very sad and silent. 1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC:
still he sate long time astonished / As in great muse, ne word to creature spake. 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
He fell into a muse and pulled his upper lip. 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 416
(intransitive) To become lost in thought, to ponder.
(transitive) To say (something) with due consideration or thought.
For quotations using this term, see Citations:muse.
When I asked about her affinity for playing self-obsessed artists, O’Hara mused: “Maybe I’m just trying to get it out of my system. I’m so afraid to be like that.” 2026 January 30, Judy Berman, “Catherine O’Hara Portrayed the Vain and Delusional With a Radical Lack of Vanity”, in TIME, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2026:
(transitive) To think on; to meditate on.
It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […]; […]; or perhaps to muse on the irrelevance of the borders that separate nation states and keep people from understanding their shared environment. 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
Come, then, expressive Silence, muse his praise. c. 1726, James Thomson, Hymn:
(transitive) To wonder at.
Muse not that I thus suddenly proceed; for what I will, I will, and there an end. c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
bg чудя се (to wonder at) · id melamun (to become lost in thought) · cs přemítat (to become lost in thought) · pl dumać (to become lost in thought) · mi taute (to think on; to meditate on) · uk задуматися (to become lost in thought) · sk dumať (to say with due consideration) · uk замислитися (to become lost in thought) · de sinnieren (to say with due consideration) · de nachdenklich sagen (to say with due consideration) · es cavilar (to think on; to meditate on) · gd meòraich (to say with due consideration) · uk розмірко́вувати (to say with due consideration) · ru заду́мываться (to become lost in thought) · cs dumat (to become lost in thought) · nl stilstaan bij (to think on; to meditate on) · pt divagar (to become lost in thought) · nl mijmeren (to become lost in thought) · de grübeln (to become lost in thought) · cs přemítat (to think on; to meditate on) · ru заду́маться (to become lost in thought) · enm musen (to become lost in thought) · uk дивуватися (to wonder at) · uk задуматися (to think on; to meditate on) · cs uvažovat (to think on; to meditate on) · sk rozjímať (to say with due consideration) · nl nadenken (to become lost in thought) · ja 瞑想する (to become lost in thought) · de sinnieren (to think on; to meditate on) · fi lausua (to say with due consideration) · fi pohtia (to become lost in thought) · fi haikailla (to become lost in thought) · tr derin derin düşünmek (to become lost in thought) · it meditare (to become lost in thought) · gd meòraich (to become lost in thought) · bg размишлявам (to think on; to meditate on) · fi tuumia (to become lost in thought) · cs hloubat (to think on; to meditate on) · mi hurihuri (to think on; to meditate on) · es meditar (to think on; to meditate on) · cs hloubat (to become lost in thought) · de nachsinnen (to become lost in thought) · bg замислям се (to become lost in thought) · sk rozjímať (to become lost in thought) · tr düşünceye dalmak (to become lost in thought) · tr düşüncelere dalmak (to become lost in thought) · fr songer (to become lost in thought) · uk замислитися (to think on; to meditate on) · fi mietiskellä (to become lost in thought) · mi huritao (to think on; to meditate on) · de nachsinnen (to say with due consideration) · cs dumat (to think on; to meditate on) · cs uvažovat (to become lost in thought) · id termenung (to become lost in thought) · pl zastanawiać się (to say with due consideration) · de sinnieren (to become lost in thought) · mi whakaaroaro (to become lost in thought) · enm musen (to think on; to meditate on) · ja 熟考する (to become lost in thought) · de nachsinnen (to think on; to meditate on) · uk роздумувати (to say with due consideration) · enm musen (to wonder at) · sk dumať (to become lost in thought)