Etymologically
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Μοῦσα

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /mûː.sa/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈmu.sa/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈmu.sa/[1]

Forms

Μοῦσᾰ (Moûsa) f (genitive Μούσης); first declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.[2][1] The original meaning of the word is unknown, but the Muses are clearly connected with poetry and song.[2] It can be analysed as *μόντα (*mónta) or *μόνθα (*móntha).[2]

  • Beekes finds the comparison of *μόνθα (*móntha) with μενθήρη (menthḗrē) and μανθάνω (manthánō, “to learn”) the most plausible Indo-European explanation, from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”), since the Muses are linked with memory and remembrance.[2][1]
  • An explanation as “mountain woman, nymph”, from a root of Latin mōns, is impossible according to Beekes, because that root is not found in Greek.[2][1]
  • Pokorny connects it with μῶμαι (mômai, “to seek after”).[1]
  • It may also be Pre-Greek, from Pre-Greek, from a form *monty-a, though nothing decides for or against it.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer invokes the Muse at the opening of the Odyssey and the Muses appear as “Olympian, daughters of Zeus” in the Iliad (1.604; 2.491).[3][4] The Odyssey first gives their number as nine, and Hesiod's Theogony names them.[4]

Semantic evolution

From Pindar and Aeschylus on the common noun μοῦσα also meant music or song itself: Pindar brings a song to Aeacus, Aeschylus speaks of a hateful strain, and Euripides asks “what song is this?”[4][2] Aeolic has Μοῖσα (Moîsa) and Doric Μῶσα (Môsa).[2][4]

Its derivatives gave μουσικός (mousikós) and μουσική (mousikḗ), “music, poetry, education”, and μουσεῖον (mouseîon), the seat of the Muses and a school, whence Latin mūsēum.[2] Latin borrowed the name as Mūsa, the source of English Muse.[1] Modern Greek μούσα is a Muse and, figuratively, a person who inspires an artist.[5]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey invoke the Muses; the Odyssey counts nine.[4]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod names the nine Muses.[4][6]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar and Aeschylus use it for song itself.[4][6]
  • 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for a strain of music.[4][6]
  • Modern Greek – μούσα is a Muse or an inspiring person.[5]

Meanings

Proper noun

  1. A Muse, one of the goddesses of song and poetry, daughters of Zeus.[4][2]

Noun

  1. (as a common noun) Music, song, poetry.[4][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  6. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge