museum

[ myoo-zee-uhm ]

noun

1. a building or place where works of art, scientific specimens, or other objects of permanent value are kept and displayed.

museum

/ mjuːˈzɪəm /

noun

1. a place or building where objects of historical, artistic, or scientific interest are exhibited, preserved, or studied

Other Word Forms

• inter·mu·seum adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of museum¹

1605–15; < Latin mūsēum place sacred to the Muses, building devoted to learning or the arts (referring especially to the scholarly institute founded in Alexandria about 280 b.c.) < Greek Mouseîon, equivalent to Moûs ( a ) Muse + -eion suffix of place

Word History and Origins

Origin of museum¹

C17: via Latin from Greek Mouseion home of the Muses, from Mousa Muse

Example Sentences

Looking at it feels like being stopped in your tracks by a painting in a museum, unable to do anything but admire it for reasons not entirely known to you.

From Salon

Las Vegas is one of the largest cities in the country without an art museum.

From Los Angeles Times

This book was put on display at the museum in 1933.

From BBC

An adolescent whose life is fractured after he survives an attack in a museum that took his mother, Theo is raised into Manhattan wealth but brokenhearted.

From Los Angeles Times

Lucy Earle, 31, is a social media executive for a museum.

From BBC

Related Words

• building
• foundation
• gallery
• hall
• institution
• library
• salon