musette
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musette
- /mjuːˈzɛt/ UK
- /mjʊ-/ UK
- /mjuˈzɛt/ US
Rhymes with -ɛt
Where it comes from
From both of the following:
* Late Middle English musette (“type of bagpipe”), from Middle French musette, Old French musette (“type of bagpipe”) (modern French musette), from muse (“bagpipe”) + -ette (diminutive suffix). Muse is derived from muser (“to play the bagpipe; (figuratively) to flatter”), perhaps from musel (“muzzle (protruding part of an animal’s head)”) (alluding to a bagpipe player puffing out the cheeks), from Late Latin mūsus (“muzzle”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps expressive of protruding lips and/or influenced by Latin mūgiō (“to bellow, low, moo”), from Proto-Indo-European *mug-, *mūg- (onomatopoeia of the lowing of cattle).
* Borrowed from French musette in the 18th century.
Sense 2 (“small bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap”) is due to the resemblance of the original knapsack to the bag of bagpipes.
noun musettes
-
Any of various small bagpipes having a soft sound, especially with a bellows, which were popular in France in the 17th and early 18th century.
Similar: pastoral oboe, shepherd's pipe
-
A pastoral air or tune that has a drone imitating such an instrument; also, a dance performed to this music.
Similar: pastoral oboe, shepherd's pipe
- An organ stop using reed pipes with cone-shaped resonators, found in organs in France in the 17th and 18th centuries.
-
A small oboe without a cap for its reed, which evolved from the chanter or pipe of bagpipes; a piccolo oboe.
Similar: oboe musette, piccoloboe
- In full musette bag: a small bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap, formerly used by soldiers, and now (cycling) chiefly by cyclists to hold food and beverages or other items. The young gentleman had a musette over his shoulder.
Translations
Every language
noun any of various small bagpipes having a soft sound, especially with a bellows
| Français | musette |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Musette |
noun pastoral air or tune that has a drone imitating this instrument; dance performed to this music
| Français | musette |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Musette |
noun organ stop using reed pipes with cone-shaped resonators
| Français | musette |
|---|
Talk about this word "musette." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/musette. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. musette. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/musette "musette." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/musette.Cite this
@misc{musette_2026,
title = {musette},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/musette},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
