Museum Definition & Meaning

American

British

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms museum American [myoo-zee-uhm] / myuˈzi əm /

noun

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

museum British / mjuːˈzɪəm /

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

• intermuseum adjective

Etymology

Origin of museum

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The London museum highlights the 18th-century painter’s rich, shadowy tableaux, emblematic of their age of intellectual discovery.

From The Wall Street Journal

But no one expected a live demonstration, and certainly not from one of the esteemed artists featured within the museum’s pristinely pruned collection.

From Salon

There’s the lab-coated museum curator who treats statues in underground storage as dignified friends worth revisiting.

From Los Angeles Times

Across the water, Ain Dubai -- the world's tallest Ferris wheel -- has stopped turning, and the Madame Tussauds wax museum below is drawing few visitors despite hefty discounts.

From Barron's

As the doctor’s apprentice, Little moves with him to Paris, where she helps sculpt figures for his new wax museum.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.