musics

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of music.

   Scholars compare the musics of distant cultures to trace shared rhythmic roots.

   The anthology surveys the popular musics that flourished across the twentieth century.

   Note

   A count plural for a word that is usually uncountable. Music normally takes no plural, so musics signals that separate traditions or systems are being counted and compared side by side. It belongs to ethnomusicology and comparative criticism, as in the musics of West Africa. For several pieces or songs, everyday English says pieces of music instead. Musics is right only when the distinct traditions are the point.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of music.

   Note

   A transitive verb stands behind this form, so it always needs an object: to music someone is to seduce or entice them with music. The verb is rare, and a reader meeting musics will usually take it first as the plural of the noun. A singular subject and a direct object right after it (she musics him into staying) are what mark it as the verb.

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