What is "muster"

Muster \Mus"ter\, v. i. To be gathered together for parade, inspection, exercise, or the like; to come together as parts of a force or body; as, his supporters mustered in force. ``The mustering squadron.''
--Byron.

Muster \Mus"ter\, n. [OE. moustre, OF. mostre, moustre, F. montre, LL. monstra. See Muster, v. t.]

1. Something shown for imitation; a pattern. [Obs.]

2. A show; a display. [Obs.]
   --Piers Plowman.

3. An assembling or review of troops, as for parade, verification of numbers, inspection, exercise, or introduction into service.

   The hurried muster of the soldiers of liberty.
   --Hawthorne.

   See how in warlike muster they appear, In rhombs, and wedges, and half-moons, and wings.
   --Milton.

4. The sum total of an army when assembled for review and inspection; the whole number of effective men in an army.

   And the muster was thirty thousands of men.
   --Wyclif.

   Ye publish the musters of your own bands, and proclaim them to amount of thousands.
   --Hooker.

5. Any assemblage or display; a gathering.

   Of the temporal grandees of the realm, mentof their wives and daughters, the muster was great and splendid.
   --Macaulay.

   Muster book, a book in which military forces are registered.

   Muster file, a muster roll.

   Muster master (Mil.), one who takes an account of troops, and of their equipment; a mustering officer; an inspector.

   Muster roll (Mil.), a list or register of all the men in a company, troop, or regiment, present or accounted for on the day of muster.

   To pass muster, to pass through a muster or inspection without censure.

   Such excuses will not pass muster with God.
   --South.

Muster \Mus"ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mustered; p. pr. & vb. n. Mustering.] [OE. mustren, prop., to show, OF. mostrer, mustrer, moustrer, monstrer, F. montrer, fr. L. monstrare to show. See Monster.]

1. To collect and display; to assemble, as troops for parade, inspection, exercise, or the like.
   --Spenser.

2. Hence: To summon together; to enroll in service; to get together. ``Mustering all its force.''
   --Cowper.

   All the gay feathers he could muster.
   --L'Estrange.

   To muster troops into service (Mil.), to inspect and enter troops on the muster roll of the army.

   To muster troops out of service (Mil.), to register them for final payment and discharge.

   To muster up, to gather up; to succeed in obtaining; to obtain with some effort or difficulty.

   One of those who can muster up sufficient sprightliness to engage in a game of forfeits.
   --Hazlitt.

c.1300, "to display, reveal, appear," from Old French mostrer "appear, show, reveal," also in a military sense (10c., Modern French montrer), from Latin monstrare "to show," from monstrum "omen, sign" (see monster). Meaning "to collect, assemble" is early 15c.; figurative use (of qualities, etc.) is from 1580s. To muster out "gather to be discharged from military service" is 1834, American English. To muster up in the figurative and transferred sense of "gather, summon, marshal" is from 1620s. Related: Mustered; mustering.

late 14c., "action of showing, manifestation," from Old French mostre "illustration, proof; examination, inspection" (13c., Modern French montre), literally "that which is shown," from mostrer (see muster (v.)). Meaning "act of gathering troops" is from c.1400. To pass musters (1570s) originally meant "to undergo military review without censure."

n. 1 gathering. 2 # An assemblage or display; a gathering, collection of people or things. (from 14th c.) 3 # (context chiefly military English) An assembling or review of troops, as for parade, verification of numbers, inspection, exercise, or introduction into service. (from 15th c.) 4 # The sum total of an army when assembled for review and inspection; the whole number of effective men in an army. 5 # (context Australia New Zealand English) A roundup of livestock for inspection, branding, drenching, shearing etc. (from 19th c.) 6 Showing. 7 # (context obsolete English) Something shown for imitation; a pattern. (15th-19th c.) 8 # (context obsolete English) An act of showing something; a display. (15th-17th c.) 9 # A collection of peafowl (an invented term rather than one used by zoologists). (from 15th c.) vb. 1 (context transitive obsolete English) To show, exhibit. (15th-17th c.) 2 (context intransitive English) To be gathered together for parade, inspection, exercise, or the like (especially of a military force); to come together as parts of a force or body. (from 15th c.) 3 (context transitive English) To collect, call or assemble together, such as troops or a group for inspection, orders, display etc. (from 15th c.) 4 (context transitive US English) To enroll (into service). (from 19th c.)

1. v. gather or bring together; "muster the courage to do something"; "she rallied her intellect"; "Summon all your courage" [syn: rally, summon, come up, muster up]

2. call to duty, military service, jury duty, etc.

1. n. a gathering of military personnel for duty; "he was thrown in the brig for missing muster"

2. compulsory military service [syn: conscription, draft, selective service]

Muster may refer to:

The term muster designates the process or event of accounting for members in a military unit. This practice of inspections led to the coining of the English idiom , meaning being sufficient. When a unit is created, it is "mustered in," and when it is disbanded, it is "mustered out."

A muster (or "fire muster") is an event pertaining to fire/rescue services. It is held in a central area such as a park and has many activities for fire department members and sometimes other community members. A muster typically revolves around a firematic competition between fire companies from around the surrounding area. Other attractions include a flea market, live music, food, demonstrations, apparatus judging, vehicle shows and contests.

Aggie Muster is a time-honored tradition at Texas A&M University which celebrates the camaraderie of the school while remembering the lives of Aggies who have died, specifically those in the past year. Muster officially began on April 21, 1903 as a day for remembrance of fellow Aggies. Muster ceremonies today take place in approximately 320 locations globally. The largest muster ceremony occurs in Reed Arena, on the Texas A&M campus. The "Roll Call for the Absent" commemorates Aggies, alumni and current students, who died that year. Aggies light candles, and friends and families of Aggies who died that year answer “here” when the name of their loved one is “called”. Campus muster also serves as a 50th year class reunion for the corresponding graduating class. Some non-campus muster ceremonies do not include the pageantry of the campus ceremony, and might consist simply of a barbecue.

In the colony of New South Wales, Australia, a muster was an extension of a Military Muster to the general populace. A general muster was held when deemed necessary to count the convicts and general population. Many people were not included. Musters were held in the years:

• 1788 A list of persons victualled in NSW and Norfolk Island
• 1806 A General Muster in NSW of convicts, emancipists, livestock and land.
• 1810 to 1820 Returns of convicts in the Colony on 1 January 1810 and of those who arrived up until September 1820.
• 1811 A General Muster in NSW, Port Dalrymple, Hobart Town and Norfolk Island
• 1814 A General Muster was held in NSW which was arranged by districts.
• 1818 Muster of free persons at Hobart Town.
• 1819 Muster of persons at Hobart Town and Port Dalrymple.
• 1820 and 1821 Muster of convicts and their children at Hobart Town.
• 1822 Muster supplying alphabetical returns of persons in NSW and also of convicts in Van Diemen's Land.
• 1823 Muster of convicts in Van Diemen's Land.
• 1825 General muster of all inhabitants in NSW, except the military.
• 1837 General muster of all convicts in NSW and Norfolk Island.
• 1841 Censuses of NSW, Adelaide, Van Diemen's Land and Port Phillip.
• 1891 Census of NSW.

A muster (Au/NZ) or a roundup (US) is the process of gathering livestock. Musters usually involve cattle, sheep or horses, but may also include goats, camels, buffalo or other animals. Mustering may be conducted for a variety of reasons including routine livestock health checks and treatments, branding, shearing, lamb marking, sale, feeding and transport or droving to another location. Mustering is a long, difficult and sometimes dangerous job, especially on the vast Australian cattle stations of the Top End, 'The Falls' (gorge) country of the Great Dividing Range and the ranches of the western United States. The group of animals gathered in a muster is referred to as a "mob" in Australia and a "herd" in North America.