MUSE
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
Muse
n 1: in ancient Greek mythology any of 9 daughters of Zeus and
Mnemosyne; protector of an art or science
2: the source of an artist's inspiration; "Euterpe was his muse"
v 1: 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" [syn: {chew
over}, {think over}, {meditate}, {ponder}, {excogitate},
{contemplate}, {muse}, {reflect}, {mull}, {mull over},
{ruminate}, {speculate}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Muse \Muse\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Mused}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Musing}.] [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.]
1. To think closely; to study in silence; to meditate.
"Thereon mused he." --Chaucer.
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He mused upon some dangerous plot. --Sir P.
Sidney.
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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.
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3. To wonder. [Obs.] --Spenser. --B. Jonson.
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Syn: To consider; meditate; ruminate. See {Ponder}.
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from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Muse \Muse\, n. [F. Muse, L. Musa, Gr. ?. Cf. {Mosaic}, n.,
{Music}.]
1. (Class. Myth.) 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.
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Granville commands; your aid, O Muses, bring:
What Muse for Granville can refuse to sing? --Pope.
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Note: The names of the Muses and the arts they presided over
were: Calliope (Epic poetry), Clio (History), Erato
(Lyric poetry), Euterpe (music), Melpomene (Tragedy),
Polymnia or Polyhymnia (religious music), Terpsichore
(dance), Thalia (comedy), and Urania (astronomy).
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2. A particular power and practice of poetry; the
inspirational genius of a poet. --Shak.
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3. A poet; a bard. [R.] --Milton.
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from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
51 Moby Thesaurus words for "Muse":
Apollo, Apollo Musagetes, Bragi, Calliope, Castilian Spring, Clio,
Erato, Euterpe, Geist, Helicon, Hippocrene, Melpomene, Orpheus,
Parnassus, Pierian Spring, Pierides, Polyhymnia, Polymnia,
Terpsichore, Thalia, afflatus, artistic imagination, conception,
creative imagination, creative power, creative thought, creativity,
daemon, daimonion, demon, divine afflatus, esemplastic imagination,
esemplastic power, fire of genius, genius, inspiration, muse,
mythicization, mythification, mythopoeia, poesy, poetic genius,
poetic imagination, sacred Nine, shaping imagination, soul, spirit,
talent, the Muses, the Nine, tuneful Nine
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
112 Moby Thesaurus words for "muse":
Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Parnassian, Polyhymnia,
Terpsichore, Thalia, Walter Mitty, absence of mind,
absentmindedness, absorption, abstractedness, abstraction,
allude to, artistic imagination, bard, be absent, be abstracted,
bemusement, blurt, blurt out, brood, brood over, brown study,
call attention to, castle-building, chaw, chew over, chew the cud,
cogitate, comment, conception, consider, contemplate,
creative imagination, creative power, creative thought, daydream,
daydreamer, daydreaming, debate, deliberate, depth of thought,
digest, divagate, dream, dreaming, engrossment,
esemplastic imagination, esemplastic power, evaluate, exclaim,
excogitate, fantasy, fantasying, fit of abstraction, genius,
go woolgathering, inspiration, interject, introspect, let drop,
let fall, make reference to, meditate, mention, moon, mooning,
moonraking, mull over, musefulness, musing, muted ecstasy,
mythicization, mythification, mythopoeia, note, observe, opine,
perpend, pipe dream, pipe-dream, pipe-dreaming, play around with,
play with, poetic imagination, ponder, preoccupation, refer to,
reflect, remark, reverie, revolve, roll, ruminate,
shaping imagination, speak, speculate, stargaze, stargazing, stray,
study, think about, think over, toy with, trance, turn over,
wander, weigh, woolgathering
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