museum

IPA/mjuˈziːəm/
KK[mjuzˈiəm]IPA/mjuˈziːəm/

museum — noun

  • museumsingular
  • museumsplural

1. a place where interesting objects from history, art, and science are kept so tha

1.nounA1
Definition

a place where interesting objects from history, art, and science are kept so that people can look at them

Example

My family went to the museum last Sunday to see old paintings.

collocation: go to the museum

The museum near the school has a room full of old clocks.

prepositional modifier: near + noun

Common collocations
  • go to the museum
  • visit a museum
  • art museum
  • science museum
  • history museum
  • museum collection
  • museum shop
  • museum ticket
  • museum staff
Synonyms
  • gallery

    usually for art only, while museum covers art, history, and science

  • exhibition

    a temporary event, not a permanent building like a museum

  • archive

    holds documents and records for research, not open display

Grammar Patterns

the + museum

a/an + adjective + museum

go to + the + (type) + museum

Usage Note

Countable noun — requires an article (a, an, the) or determiner (my, our, this). Common with a preceding type word such as art, history, science, or natural history.

Common Mistakes

I visited museum yesterday.
I visited the museum yesterday.
Museum is a countable noun and needs a word like 'a', 'an', 'the', or 'my' before it.
I went to the museum to borrow a book.
I went to the library to borrow a book.
Museums show objects for people to look at; libraries lend books.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Museum, gallery, exhibition, and archive all refer to places where objects are kept or shown, but they differ in purpose and scope. A museum is a permanent public building that collects and displays objects of historical, scientific, or artistic value for visitors to enjoy and learn from. A gallery usually focuses on works of art and may sell them as well as display them. An exhibition is a temporary public show of objects, which can be held inside a museum, a gallery, or another venue. An archive is a collection of historical documents and records, typically used by researchers rather than general visitors. For example: 'The art gallery is showing new paintings by local artists.' 'There is a special exhibition of ancient coins at the museum this month.' 'The city archive keeps old letters and maps from the 1800s.'

museum ↗gallery ↗exhibition ↗archive ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • museum entrance
  • museum guide
  • museum visit
  • museum gift shop

Prepositions

  • at the museum
  • in the museum
  • to the museum
  • from the museum

Etymology

Ancient GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

The word museum comes from ancient Greek Mouseion, meaning 'shrine of the Muses' — the nine goddesses of art, music, history, and science in Greek mythology. It passed into Latin as museum ('library, study'), then into French as musée, and finally into English in the 1600s. The first public museum opened in Oxford in 1683.