Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old French
Origin: musique, from Latin, from Greek mousike 'art of the Muses', from Mousa; MUSE2

music

 noun
     
NEW! See related topics: MUSIC
mu‧sic S1 W1 [uncountable]
1APM a series of sounds made by instruments or voices in a way that is pleasant or excitingCOLLOCATIONS COLLOCATIONS
listen to music play music write/compose music pop/rock/jazz/classical/country music live music (=music that is played by musicians on stage) recorded music background music piece of music music lover
I often listen to music when I'm in the car.
What's your favourite kind of music?
a record featuring the music of George Harrison
The band was playing music from the show 'South Pacific'.
Nyman writes the music for most of Peter Greenaway's films.
a country music radio station
A lot of the bars round here have live music at weekends.
A new piece of music was specially written for the occasion.
He was a keen music lover.
2APM the art of writing or playing music:
Peter's studying music at college.
music lessons
music business/industry etc
a career in the music business
3APM a set of written marks representing music, or paper with the written marks on it:
I left my music at home.
McCartney never learned to read music.
 ➔ sheet music
4

be music to your ears

if someone's words are music to your ears, they make you very happy or pleased
5

set/put something to music

APMAL to write music so that the words of a poem, play etc can be sung

➔ face the music

at face2 (7)GRAMMAR GRAMMAR

!! Do not say 'musics' or 'a music'. Music is an uncountable noun • I love listening to music.!! Do not say 'music band' or 'music group'. Say band or group • Why don't we form a band? • My favourite group is S Club 7. You can also use a word that describes a type of music before band or group • a jazz band • a rock group!! Do not say 'music concert'. Say concert • It was the first time I'd been to a concert. You can also use a word that describes a type of music before concert • pop concerts • a classical music concert
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

ADVERTISING AND MARKETINGANIMALSBANKING
BIOLOGYBUSINESS BASICSCOMPUTERS
CLOTHESDAILY LIFEEDUCATION
FINANCEFOODGRAMMAR
HAIR AND BEAUTYHUMANLAW
MUSICNATURESPORT
STOCKS AND SHARESTECHNOLOGYTRADE