Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Muse” come from?

Muse comes from Middle English Muse, from Latin Musa, from Ancient Greek Μοῦσα, from Ancient Greek Μονθια, from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁-.

Muse (English): One of the nine Ancient Greek deities of the arts

Definitions

  1. One of the nine Ancient Greek deities of the arts

Ancestry of “Muse”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishMuseA Muse; A source of inspiration for poetry; A...
2Old Frenchmusewind instrument
3Old Frenchmuserto ponder; to think about; to stare at in...
4Old Frenchmusel—
5Latinmusus—

Words derived from “Muse”

  • musal
  • philomuse
Every word from Latin musus →