MUSICIAN

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does musician mean? 

• MUSICIAN (noun)
  The noun MUSICIAN has 2 senses:

1. someone who plays a musical instrument (as a profession)

2. artist who composes or conducts music as a profession

  Familiarity information: MUSICIAN used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MUSICIAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who plays a musical instrument (as a profession)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

instrumentalist; musician; player

Hypernyms ("musician" is a kind of...):

performer; performing artist (an entertainer who performs a dramatic or musical work for an audience)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "musician"):

rhythm and blues musician (a performer (and sometimes composer) of rhythm and blues music)

koto player (a musician who plays the koto)

recorder player (someone who plays the recorder)

bagpiper; piper (someone who plays the bagpipe)

pianist; piano player (a person who plays the piano)

percussionist (a musician who plays percussion instruments)

organist (a person who plays an organ)

oboist (a musician who plays the oboe)

lutanist; lutenist; lutist (a musician who plays the lute)

violist (a musician who plays the viola)

rock 'n' roll musician; rocker (a performer or composer or fan of rock music)

saxist; saxophonist (a musician who plays the saxophone)

singer; vocaliser; vocalist; vocalizer (a person who sings)

sitar player (a musician who plays the sitar)

soloist (a musician who performs a solo)

trombone player; trombonist (a musician who plays the trombone)

cornetist; trumpeter (a musician who plays the trumpet or cornet)

vibist; vibraphonist (a musician who plays the vibraphone)

fiddler; violinist (a musician who plays the violin)

jazz musician; jazzman (a musician who plays or composes jazz music)

accompanist; accompanyist (a person who provides musical accompaniment (usually on a piano))

accordionist (a musician who plays the accordion)

concertinist (a person who plays the concertina)

bandsman (a player in a band (especially a military band))

bassist (a musician who play the bass viol)

bassoonist (a musician who plays the bassoon)

bell ringer (someone who plays musical handbells)

carillonneur (a musician who plays a carillon)

cellist; violoncellist (someone who plays a violoncello)

clarinetist; clarinettist (a musician who plays the clarinet)

flautist; flute player; flutist (someone who plays the flute)

gambist (a musician who performs upon the viola da gamba)

guitar player; guitarist (a musician who plays the guitar)

harmoniser; harmonizer (a musician who sings or plays in harmony)

harper; harpist (someone who plays the harp)

harpsichordist (someone who plays the harpsichord)

hornist (a musician who plays a horn (especially a French horn))

keyboardist (a musician who plays a keyboard instrument)

Holonyms ("musician" is a member of...):

musical group; musical organisation; musical organization (an organization of musicians who perform together)

Derivation:

music (musical activity (singing or whistling etc.))

music ((music) the sounds produced by singers or musical instruments (or reproductions of such sounds))

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

musicianship (artistry in performing music)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Artist who composes or conducts music as a profession

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("musician" is a kind of...):

artist; creative person (a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination)

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "musician"):

cantor; choirmaster; precentor (the musical director of a choir)

composer (someone who composes music as a profession)

conductor; director; music director (the person who leads a musical group)

virtuoso (a musician who is a consummate master of technique and artistry)

adapter; arranger; transcriber (a musician who adapts a composition for particular voices or instruments or for another style of performance)

Instance hyponyms:

Herbert; Victor Herbert (United States musician and composer and conductor noted for his comic operas (1859-1924))

Ono; Yoko Ono (United States musician (born in Japan) who married John Lennon and collaborated with him on recordings (born in 1933))

Carl Orff; Orff (German musician who developed a widely used system for teaching music to children (1895-1982))

Derivation:

music (musical activity (singing or whistling etc.))

music ((music) the sounds produced by singers or musical instruments (or reproductions of such sounds))

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

musicianship (artistry in performing music)

 Context examples 

I'm to be a famous musician myself, and all creation is to rush to hear me.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It was not long before the witch came striding up towards them, and said to the musician: Dear musician, may I pluck that beautiful flower for myself?

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

His first proposition and request, that the dance begun at Mr. Cole's should be finished there—that the same party should be collected, and the same musician engaged, met with the readiest acquiescence.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Creations of the mind, such as those created by musicians, authors, artists, and inventors.

(Intellectual Property, NCI Thesaurus)

My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Some years after I had broken with the mother, she abandoned her child, and ran away to Italy with a musician or singer.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

And the musician woman!

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

This lady is a musician.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There was a family of cousins within a walk of Uppercross, in less affluent circumstances, who depended on the Musgroves for all their pleasures: they would come at any time, and help play at anything, or dance anywhere; and Anne, very much preferring the office of musician to a more active post, played country dances to them by the hour together; a kindness which always recommended her musical powers to the notice of Mr and Mrs Musgrove more than anything else, and often drew this compliment;—"Well done, Miss Anne! very well done indeed!

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

The upside of the Sun conjunct Neptune is that if you work in the arts—perhaps as an actor, artist, photographer, musician, director of an art gallery or curator of a museum, or any of the many other jobs that deal in the creative or cultural arts—you may conclude an agreement for a large sale within four days of this full moon.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)