muse
to carefully think about something
TRANSLATION
muse = nachgrübeln, sinnieren --- GOOGLE INDEX muse: approximately 2,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
I once MUSED that America's most ubiquitous cultural export was a toss-up between the milk crate and the baseball cap. Pringles, I think, are nudging their way to the top.
(Salon)
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"The French do like to have their president play world statesman," MUSED one diplomat in Paris last week, before France's fighter planes had taken to the skies.
(The Guardian)
(Salon)
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"The French do like to have their president play world statesman," MUSED one diplomat in Paris last week, before France's fighter planes had taken to the skies.
(The Guardian)
Did you
know?
muse
verb
- be absorbed in thought
- say to oneself in a thoughtful manner
- gaze thoughtfully at (muse on)
(Oxford English Dictionary)
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The original sense of muse was (and still is) "to think about something carefully and for a long time" (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary).
However, many people use it as a verb to simply indicate that they are offering an opinion. It could be that the person really thought about it for a while. On the other hand, maybe they are just "shooting from the hip" (to act or speak on a matter without forethought).
Muse stems from the Old French "muser", which literally means "to stand with one's nose up in the air", like a dog sniffing around for a scent of something. It can be traced back to the Gallo-Romance word "musa" or snout. The next time you see a dog sniffing about, consider that it might simply be musing.
As a noun, muse is an imaginary being or force that gives someone ideas and helps them to write, paint or make music. When capitalised, it refers to one of the nine goddesses in Greek and Roman stories who provide encouragement in the various areas of art, music and literature.
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SYNONYMS
contemplate, mull over, ponder, ruminate, turn over in one's head, think about, weigh
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I was musing about our project over the weekend, and had the following idea..."
verb
- be absorbed in thought
- say to oneself in a thoughtful manner
- gaze thoughtfully at (muse on)
(Oxford English Dictionary)
---
The original sense of muse was (and still is) "to think about something carefully and for a long time" (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary).
However, many people use it as a verb to simply indicate that they are offering an opinion. It could be that the person really thought about it for a while. On the other hand, maybe they are just "shooting from the hip" (to act or speak on a matter without forethought).
Muse stems from the Old French "muser", which literally means "to stand with one's nose up in the air", like a dog sniffing around for a scent of something. It can be traced back to the Gallo-Romance word "musa" or snout. The next time you see a dog sniffing about, consider that it might simply be musing.
As a noun, muse is an imaginary being or force that gives someone ideas and helps them to write, paint or make music. When capitalised, it refers to one of the nine goddesses in Greek and Roman stories who provide encouragement in the various areas of art, music and literature.
---
SYNONYMS
contemplate, mull over, ponder, ruminate, turn over in one's head, think about, weigh
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I was musing about our project over the weekend, and had the following idea..."
