Music Meaning: Definition and Examples

Meaning 1：organized sound (music)

music 🔊

/ˈmjuːzɪk/

Music is the art of making sounds in a pleasant way, often with melody and rhythm, to express feelings or entertain people.

People listening to music with headphones in a sunny park

organized sound 🔊

➕

/ˈɔːrɡənaɪzd saʊnd/

Music is the art of arranging sounds in time to produce a composition through elements of melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.

📁 Category：Culture & History 🔖 Level：Elementary

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Greek 'mousikē' (art of the Muses), via Latin 'musica' and Old French 'musique'.

💡 Mnemonic

Think of the nine Muses inspiring all arts — add 'ic' to get 'music'.

📖 Example

After a stressful day, I love to unwind by listening to calming music with my eyes closed. 🔊 After a stressful day, I love to unwind by listening to calming music with my eyes closed.

🔗 Collocations

listen to music – to hear music intentionally

classical music – a genre of music from the Western tradition

make music – to produce musical sounds by singing or playing instruments

🔄 Synonyms

melody (n) – a sequence of notes that is musically pleasing

harmony (n) – the combination of different musical notes played simultaneously

rhythm (n) – a strong regular repeated pattern of movement or sound

🚫 Antonyms

silence (n) – absence of any sound

noise (n) – unwanted or unpleasant sound

🌱 Derivatives

musical (adj) – relating to music

musician (n) – a person who plays or composes music

musically (adv) – in a way that relates to music

📖 Cultural Story

Derived from Greek 'mousikē' (art of the Muses), the word entered Latin as 'musica', then Old French 'musique', and finally English in the 13th century.