1. muse(n = noun.person) - in ancient Greek mythology any of 9 daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne; protector of an art or science;
is a kind of greek deity
has particulars: calliope, clio, erato, euterpe, melpomene, polyhymnia, terpsichore, thalia, urania
2. muse(n = noun.cognition) - the source of an artist's inspiration; "Euterpe was his muse"
is a kind of germ, seed, source
Derived form verb muse1
muse(v = verb.cognition) chew over, contemplate, excogitate, meditate, mull, mull over, ponder, reflect, ruminate, speculate, think over - 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"
is one way to cerebrate, cogitate, think
Derived forms noun muse2, noun muser1, noun musing1
Sample sentences:
Somebody ----s PP
A gap or hole in a hedge, hence, wall, or the like, through which a wild animal is accustomed to pass; a muset. [1913 Webster]
"Find a hare without a muse." [1913 Webster]
1. One of the nine goddesses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who presided over song and the different kinds of poetry, and also the arts and sciences; -- often used in the plural. At one time certain other goddesses were considered as muses. [1913 Webster]
" The names of the Muses and the arts they presided over were:
"Granville commands; your aid, O Muses, bring:
What Muse for Granville can refuse to sing?" [1913 Webster]
2. A particular power and practice of poetry; the inspirational genius of a poet. Shak. [1913 Webster]
3. A poet; a bard. Milton. [1913 Webster]
1. To think closely; to study in silence; to meditate. Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
"He mused upon some dangerous plot." [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
3. To wonder. Spenser.
1. To think on; to meditate on. [1913 Webster]
"Come, then, expressive Silence, muse his praise." [1913 Webster]
2. To wonder at. Shak. [1913 Webster]
1. Contemplation which abstracts the mind from passing scenes; absorbing thought; hence, absence of mind; a brown study. Milton. [1913 Webster]
2. Wonder, or admiration. Spenser. [1913 Webster]
muse, n.
1 (as the Muses) (in Greek and Roman mythology) nine goddesses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who inspire poetry, music, drama, etc.
2 (usu. prec. by the) a a poet's inspiring goddess. b a poet's genius.
muse, v. & n. literary
--v.
1 intr. a (usu. foll. by on, upon) ponder, reflect. b (usu. foll. by on) gaze meditatively (on a scene etc.).
2 tr. say meditatively.
--n. archaic a fit of abstraction.
Etymology:
ME f. OF muser to waste time f. Rmc perh. f. med.L musum muzzle
N poetry, poetics, poesy, Muse, Calliope, tuneful Nine, Parnassus, Helicon, Pierides, Pierian spring, versification, rhyming, making verses, prosody, orthometry, poem, epic, epic poem, epopee, epopoea, ode, epode, idyl, lyric, eclogue, pastoral, bucolic, dithyramb, anacreontic, sonnet, roundelay, rondeau, rondo, madrigal, canzonet, cento, monody, elegy, amoebaeum, ghazal, palinode, dramatic poetry, lyric poetry, opera, posy, anthology, disjecta membra poetae song, ballad, lay, love song, drinking song, war song, sea song, lullaby, music, nursery rhymes, doggerel, Hudibrastic verse, prose run mad, macaronics, macaronic verse, leonine verse, runes, canto, stanza, distich, verse, line, couplet, triplet, quatrain, strophe, antistrophe, verse, rhyme, assonance, crambo, meter, measure, foot, numbers, strain, rhythm, accentuation, dactyl, spondee, trochee, anapest, hexameter, pentameter, Alexandrine, anacrusis, antispast, blank verse, ictus, elegiacs, elegiac verse, elegaic meter, elegaic poetry, poet, poet laureate, laureate, bard, lyrist, scald, skald, troubadour, trouvere, minstrel, minnesinger, meistersinger, improvisatore, versifier, sonneteer, rhymer, rhymist, rhymester, ballad monger, runer, poetaster, genus irritabile vatum, poetic, poetical, lyric, lyrical, tuneful, epic, dithyrambic, metrical, a catalectin, elegiac, iambic, trochaic, anapestic, amoebaeic, Melibean, skaldic, Ionic, Sapphic, Alcaic, Pindaric, a poem round and perfect as a star, Dichtung und Wahrheit, furor poeticus, his virtues formed the magic of his song, I do but sing because I must, I learnt life from the poets, licentia vatum, mutum est pictura poema, O for a muse of fire!, sweet food of sweetly uttered knowledge, the true poem is the poet's mind, Volk der Dichter und Denker, wisdom married to immortal verse.
VB think, reflect, cogitate, excogitate, consider, deliberate, bestow thought upon, bestow consideration upon, speculate, contemplate, meditate, ponder, muse, dream, ruminate, brood over, con over, animadvert, study, bend the mind, apply the mind, digest, discuss, hammer at, weigh, perpend, realize, appreciate, fancy, trow, take into consideration, take counsel, commune with oneself, bethink oneself, collect one's thoughts, revolve in the mind, turn over in the mind, run over in the mind, chew the cud upon, sleep upon, take counsel of one's pillow, advise with one's pillow, rack one's brains, ransack one's brains, crack one's brains, beat one's brains, cudgel one's brains, set one's brain to work, set one's wits to work, harbor an idea, entertain an idea, cherish an idea, nurture an idea, take into one's head, bear in mind, reconsider, occur, present itself, suggest itself, come into one's head, get into one's head, strike one, flit across the view, come uppermost, run in one s head, enter the mind, pass in the mind, cross the mind, flash on the mind, flash across the mind, float in the mind, fasten itself on the mind, be uppermost in the mind, occupy the mind, have in one's mind, make an impression, sink into the mind, penetrate into the mind, engross the thoughts.