muse

Etymology 1

From Middle French muse, from Latin Mūsa, from Ancient Greek Μοῦσα (Moûsa).

noun

1. (of people) A source of inspiration.
   Yoko Ono was John Lennon's wife, lover, and muse.
2. (archaic) A poet; a bard.
   While comments of your praiſe richly compil'd, Reſerue their Character with goulden quill, And precious phraſe by all the Muſes fil’d.

Etymology 2

From Middle English musen, from Old French muser.

verb

1. (intransitive) To become lost in thought, to ponder.
2. (transitive) To say (something) with due consideration or thought.
   For quotations using this term, see Citations:muse.
3. (transitive) To think on; to meditate on.
   Come, then, expressive Silence, muse his praise. c. 1726, James Thomson, Hymn
   It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […]; […]; or perhaps to muse on the irrelevance of the borders that separate nation states and keep people from understanding their shared environment. 2013-06-07, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36
4. (transitive) To wonder at.

noun

1. An act of musing; a period of thoughtfulness.
   He fell into a muse and pulled his upper lip. 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 416

Etymology 3

From French musse. See muset.

noun

1. A gap or hole in a hedge, fence, etc. through which a wild animal is accustomed to pass; a muset.
   Find a hare without a muse. (old proverb)