museum
noun
mu·se·um myu̇-ˈzē-əm 
: an institution devoted to the procurement, care, study, and display of objects of lasting interest or value
American Museum of Natural History
also : a place where objects are exhibited
an art museum
Examples of museum in a Sentence
a museum of natural history a trip to the Museum of Natural History
Recent Examples on the Web
Plus, most of the photos are, indeed, museum-worthy, and many reflect trends in institutional art collecting that have been fashionable since the museum’s photo department was created in 2008. —
Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 27 Apr. 2026 End the afternoon at Ueno Park, packed with temples, a zoo and several notable museums. —Lauren Schuster, Sacbee.com, 27 Apr. 2026 End the afternoon at Ueno Park, which is packed with temples, a zoo and several notable museums. —Lauren Schuster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Apr. 2026 Aurora Mayor John Laesch honored the museum for winning the two awards during a meeting of the Aurora City Council’s Committee of the Whole last week. —Aurora Beacon-News, Chicago Tribune, 27 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for museum
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 27 Apr. 2026 End the afternoon at Ueno Park, packed with temples, a zoo and several notable museums. —Lauren Schuster, Sacbee.com, 27 Apr. 2026 End the afternoon at Ueno Park, which is packed with temples, a zoo and several notable museums. —Lauren Schuster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Apr. 2026 Aurora Mayor John Laesch honored the museum for winning the two awards during a meeting of the Aurora City Council’s Committee of the Whole last week. —Aurora Beacon-News, Chicago Tribune, 27 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for museum
Cite this Entry
“Museum.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/dictionary/museum. Accessed 29 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
museum
noun
mu·se·um myu̇-ˈzē-əm
: a building in which interesting and valuable things (as works of art or historical or scientific objects) are collected and shown to the public
Etymology
from Latin Museum "a place devoted to the Muses, a place for the study of special arts and sciences," from Greek Mouseion (same meaning), from Mouseios "of the Muses," from Mousa "Muse, goddess of an art or science" — related to music
Word Origin
The ancient Greeks worshipped nine sister goddesses, each of whom was called a Mousa. In English we now refer to them as the Muses. The Greeks believed that each Muse was the goddess of a particular art or science. A place that was dedicated to these goddesses—and to the arts and sciences for which they stood—was called a Mouseion. The Greek Mouseion became Museum in Latin, from which it was borrowed into English about 300 years ago.
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