Meanings
plural musettes
- historicalentertainmentAny of various small bagpipes having a soft sound, especially with a bellows, which were popular in France in the 17th and early 18th century.First known use 14th c.
Synonyms: pastoral oboe, shepherd's pipe
- broadlyhistoricalentertainmentA pastoral air or tune that has a drone imitating such an instrument; also, a dance performed to this music.
Synonyms: pastoral oboe, shepherd's pipe
- historicalentertainmentAn organ stop using reed pipes with cone-shaped resonators, found in organs in France in the 17th and 18th centuries.First known use 19th c.
- entertainmentA small oboe without a cap for its reed, which evolved from the chanter or pipe of bagpipes; a piccolo oboe.First known use 19th c.
Synonyms: oboe musette, piccoloboe
- USIn 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.First known use 20th c.
The young gentleman had a musette over his shoulder.
1923, [Ernest Hemingway], “Out of Season”, in Three Stories […] & Ten Poems […], [Paris]: [Contact Publishing Company]; printed at Dijon by Maurice Darantière, →OCLC, page 132 more examples
I gave them money for platform tickets and had them take my baggage. There was a big rucksack and two musettes.
1929 May–October, Ernest Hemingway, chapter 23, in A Farewell to Arms, 1st British edition, London: Jonathan Cape […], published 1929, →OCLC, book II, page 156Yossarian watched Chief White Halfoat pour whiskey carefully into three empty shampoo bottles and store them away in the musette bag he was packing.
1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “Yo-Yo’s Roomies”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 362
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny of various small bagpipes having a soft sound, especially with a bellows, which were popular in France in the 17th and early 18th century.
nounA pastoral air or tune that has a drone imitating such an instrument; also, a dance performed to this music.
nounA small oboe without a cap for its reed, which evolved from the chanter or pipe of bagpipes; a piccolo oboe.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchmusette
- Proto-Indo-European*mug-
- Latinmūgiō“to bellow, low, moo”
- Late Latinmūsus“muzzle”
- Old Frenchmusette“type of bagpipe”
- Middle Frenchmusette
- Middle Englishmusette“type of bagpipe”
- Englishmusette
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.
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch musette, musette
- musettepastoral air or tune that has a drone imitating this instrument; dance performed to this music
- musettesmall bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap
- musetteany of various small bagpipes having a soft sound, especially with a bellows
Finnish musetti, musetti
- musettipastoral air or tune that has a drone imitating this instrument; dance performed to this music
- musettiorgan stop using reed pipes with cone-shaped resonators
- musettismall oboe without a cap for its reed
- olkapussismall bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap
- olkapussukkasmall bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap
- musettiany of various small bagpipes having a soft sound, especially with a bellows
French musette, musette
- musettepastoral air or tune that has a drone imitating this instrument; dance performed to this music
- musetteorgan stop using reed pipes with cone-shaped resonators
- musettesmall oboe without a cap for its reed
- musettesmall bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap
- musetteany of various small bagpipes having a soft sound, especially with a bellows
German Musette, Musette
- Musettepastoral air or tune that has a drone imitating this instrument; dance performed to this music
- Musettesmall oboe without a cap for its reed
- Musetteany of various small bagpipes having a soft sound, especially with a bellows
Hungarian tarsoly
- tarsolysmall bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap
Norwegian Bokmål musette
- musettesmall oboe without a cap for its reed
Polish musette, organy musette
- musettepastoral air or tune that has a drone imitating this instrument; dance performed to this music
- organy musetteorgan stop using reed pipes with cone-shaped resonators
- obojczyk musettesmall oboe without a cap for its reed
- torebka z paskiemsmall bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap
- musetteany of various small bagpipes having a soft sound, especially with a bellows
Spanish macuto, zurrón
- macutosmall bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap
- zurrónsmall bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap
- tanatesmall bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap
- morralsmall bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap
- chuspasmall bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap
- zorrónsmall bag or knapsack with a shoulder strap
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with musette
Cite this entry
musette. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/musette
“musette.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/musette. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “musette,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/musette.
Source: musette on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.