Other forms: muses, mused, musing
To muse is to think about something quietly and at length. Muse on it, musing aloud, he mused for a while.
The preposition is on or about, and musing aloud is thinking out loud without expecting an answer. As a noun, a muse is somebody who inspires an artist, from the nine Greek Muses who presided over the arts and sciences. Note museum and music, which come from the same Muses; and amuse, which is the same root and originally meant to make somebody stare.
1verbmuseTo think about something quietly and at length.
“Sitting by the window, she mused on how different her life might have been.”
2nouninspiresSomebody who inspires an artist.
“The painter's wife was his muse and appears in many of his pictures.”
muse is a quiet thinking, or an inspiration.
The Greek Muses were nine goddesses of the arts, and their name gave museum, a place of the Muses, and music. The verb muse came separately through French and probably meant to stand with the muzzle in the air.
Proto-Indo-European
*men- (think)
Ancient Greek
Μοῦσα
Latin
Mūsa
Middle French
muse
English, today
muse
From Middle French muse, from Latin Mūsa, from Ancient Greek Μοῦσα.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA