1702 – The Royal Dictionary English and French
MUSE, Subst. (a Goddess of Poetry) Muse, Deesse de la Poesie.
To be in a Muse (or in a melancholy Fit)
to MUSE upon, verb. Mediter.
MUSICK, Subst. (the Art of fingering or playing on Instruments)
1770 – A New Complete English Dictionary
A MUSE, deep thought, close attention, absence of mind.
To MUSE, to ponder, meditate, consider attentively, to wonder or be amazed.
MUSE’UM, name which originally signified a part of the palace of Alexandria, which took up at least one-fourth of that city. This quarter was called the Muse from its being set apart for the muses and the study of the sciences. Hence the name is now given to any place set apart as a repository for things that have an immediate relation to the arts, &c.
MU’SES, nine imaginary heathen deities, viz. Clio, which means glory ; Euterpe, pleasing ; Thalia, flourishing ; Melpomene, attracting ; Terpsichore, rejoicing the heart ; Erato, the amiable ; Polyhymnia, a multitude of songs ; Urania, the heavenly ; and Calliope, sweetness of voice.
To Clio, they attributed the invention of history ; to Melpomene, tragedy ; to Thalia, comedy ; to Euterpe, the use of the flute ; to Terpsichore, the harp ; to Erato, the lyre and lute ; to Calliope, heroic verse ; to Urania, astrology ; and to Polyhymnia, rhetoric.
MU’SIC, one of the seven liberal sciences, belonging to the Mathematics, which considers the number, time, and tune of sounds, in order to make delightful harmony ; the art of singing and playing on all sorts of musical instruments.
MU’SICAL, harmonious, melodious, sweet-sounding.
MU’SICIAN, one skilled in harmony ; a professor of music.
MU’SING, a pausing or thinking upon.
MUSQUETE’ER, a soldier armed with a musquet.
MU’SROL, the noseband of a horse’s bridle.
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