English
museum
Museum comes from Latin mūsēum ‘library, study’, and goes back to Ancient Greek Μοῦσᾰ ‘Muse’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEΜοῦσᾰ‘Muse’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEΜουσεῖονMouseîon
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūsēum‘library’
- Englishearliest quotation 2013museum
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEΜοῦσᾰ‘Muse’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEΜουσεῖονMouseîon
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūsēum‘library’
- Englishearliest quotation 2013museum
Earliest quotation: 2013, Jeanette Winterson: “I use daily those books that for others are…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *men- ‘to think’
money, mind, amount, music, comment, mental, mouth, remain, mention, mountain, permanent, monster, auto, mount, min, monitor, monetary, demonstration, mentor, monk, mint, maya, dementia, monument, monte, imminent, monastery, amnesty, eminent, menace, ming, prominence, mas, mandarin, mantra, mont, mania, amnesia, manic, summon, 126 more
through Ancient Greek Μουσεῖον
Today it means
noun A building or institution dedicated to the acquisition, conservation, study, exhibition, and educational interpretation of objects having scientific, historical, cultural or artistic value.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek Μοῦσᾰ / museum