museum meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

museum

noun

UK /mjuːˈziːəm/ · US /mjuˈziəm/

Etymology From Latin mūsēum (“library, study”), from Ancient Greek Μουσεῖον (Mouseîon), shrine of the Muses (Μοῦσα (Moûsa)). Doublet of mosaic.

A building or institution dedicated to the acquisition, conservation, study, exhibition, and educational interpretation of objects having scientific, historical, cultural or artistic value.

visit the history museum
They're opening a new coin exhibition at the local museum.

Derived terms: 36 terms
antimuseum, British Museum algorithm, cybermuseum, dime museum, ecomuseum, geomuseum, house museum, imaginary museum, living museum, minimuseum, multimuseum, museomics, museum beetle, museumed out, museumesque, museum-goer, museumgoer, museumgoing, museumification, museumify, museumist, museumization, museumize, museumless, museumlike, museumobile, museum pest, museum piece, museum problem, museum restoration, museumwide, museumworthy, nonmuseum, open-air museum, open air museum, wax museum
Related terms: museography, museology, museophile

museum

verb

Etymology From Latin mūsēum (“library, study”), from Ancient Greek Μουσεῖον (Mouseîon), shrine of the Muses (Μοῦσα (Moûsa)). Doublet of mosaic.

Ambitransitive To place in a museum.

I use daily those books that for others are museumed. The glass case approach depresses me, makes books into porcelain, guts them of what they are.2013, Jeanette Winterson, Art Objects: Essays on Ecstasy and Effrontery:
Such museuming provides evidence that the Gulf has started building up its defences to protect its national culture, which might be seen as threatened by modern, global societies.2016, Pamela Erskine-Loftus, Mariam Ibrahim Al-Mulla, Victoria Hightower, Representing the Nation, page 77:

Colloquial To visit museums.

I told her I'd do just one visit to start; I don't really have time to do a lot of museuming.2014, Robin Reardon, Educating Simon, page 212: