Word of the Day: Muse
muse / ˈmyüz
noun
- in Greek mythology, any of the nine goddesses that preside over the arts and sciences, usually capitalized
The Muse visits during the process of creation, not before.
Roger Ebert, 1942-2013
- any person or thing that serves as an artist’s inspiration
Once you start being a muse, you cannot stop being a muse.
Carine Roitfeld, 1954-
- the creative powers of a poet
O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention.
William Shakespeare, 1564-1616
verb
- to meditate or become lost in thought
Musing takes place in a kind of meadowlands of the imagination, a part of the imagination that has not yet been plowed, developed, or put to any immediately practical use[…]
Rebecca Solnit, 1961-
- to ponder thoughtfully
I mused for a few moments on the question of which was worse, to lead a life so boring that you are easily enchanted, or a life so full of stimulus that you are easily bored.
Bill Bryson, 1951-