.]] in London.]] located in Xi'an, China, houses over 300,000 items.]]A museum is a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study, education, enjoyment, the tangible and intangible evidence of people and their environment", as defined by the International Council of Museums.http://icom.museum/statutes.html#2 The UK Museums Association definition (adopted 1998) is:There are tens of thousands of museums all over the world. For a relatively short list, see the List of museums.
Origins
The English "museum" comes from the Latin word, and is pluralized as "museums" (or, rarely, "musea"). It is originally from the Greek mouseion, which denotes a place or temple dedicated to the Muses (the patron divinities in Greek mythology of the arts), and hence a building set apart for study and the arts, especially the institute for philosophy and research at the Librar
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum