Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - music

 noun  Usage: often attributive  Etymology: Middle English musik, from Anglo-French musike, from Latin ~a, from Greek mousike any art presided over by the Muses, especially ~, from feminine of mousikos of the Muses, from Mousa Muse  Date: 13th century  1.  a. the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity  b. vocal, instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony  2.  a. an agreeable sound ; euphony her voice was ~ to my ears  b. ~al quality the ~ of verse  3. a ~al accompaniment a play set to ~  4. the score of a ~al composition set down on paper  5. a distinctive type or category of ~ there is a ~ for everybody — Eric Salzman