mute

mute

silent; refraining from speech; incapable of speech; to deaden or muffle the sound of

Not to be confused with:

moot – debatable; undecided: a moot point; disputable, unsettled

Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

mute

 (myo͞ot)

adj. mut·er, mut·est

1. Refraining from producing speech or vocal sound.

2.

a. Offensive Unable to speak.

b. Unable to vocalize, as certain animals.

3. Expressed without speech; unspoken: a mute appeal.

4. Law Declining to enter a plea to a criminal charge: standing mute.

5. Linguistics

a. Not pronounced; silent, as the e in the word house.

b. Pronounced with a temporary stoppage of breath, as the sounds (p) and (b); plosive; stopped.

n.

1. Offensive One who is incapable of speech.

2. Law A defendant who declines to enter a plea to a criminal charge.

3. Music Any of various devices used to muffle or soften the tone of an instrument.

4. Linguistics

a. A silent letter.

b. A plosive; a stop.

tr.v. mut·ed, mut·ing, mutes

1. To soften or muffle the sound of.

2. To soften the tone, color, shade, or hue of.

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[Middle English muet, from Old French, from diminutive of mu, from Latin mūtus.]

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mute′ly adv.

mute′ness n.

Usage Note: In reference to people who are unable to speak, mute and deaf-mute are now usually considered objectionable. Unlike blind and deaf, which are straightforward terms that need not be avoided out of fear of causing offense, mute and deaf-mute have fallen out of use and are likely to evoke older stereotypes of helplessness or pitiableness. They are especially objectionable if taken to imply that a person who cannot or does not use oral speech is thereby deprived of language. Many people who lack the ability to speak now converse through ASL or similar sign languages, which have the same communicative utility as spoken language. See Usage Note at deaf.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mute

(mjuːt)

adj

1. not giving out sound or speech; silent

2. (Pathology) offensive unable to speak; dumb

3. unspoken or unexpressed: mute dislike.

4. (Law) law (of a person arraigned on indictment) refusing to answer a charge

5. (Phonetics & Phonology) phonetics another word for plosive

6. (Phonetics & Phonology) (of a letter in a word) silent

n

7. (Pathology) offensive a person who is unable to speak

8. (Law) law a person who refuses to plead when arraigned on indictment for an offence

9. (Instruments) any of various devices used to soften the tone of stringed or brass instruments

10. (Phonetics & Phonology) phonetics a plosive consonant; stop

11. (Phonetics & Phonology) a silent letter

12. (Theatre) an actor in a dumb show

13. a hired mourner at a funeral

vb (tr)

14. (Instruments) to reduce the volume of (a musical instrument) by means of a mute, soft pedal, etc

15. (Art Terms) to subdue the strength of (a colour, tone, lighting, etc)

[C14: muwet from Old French mu, from Latin mūtus silent]

ˈmutely adv

ˈmuteness n

Usage: Using mute to refer to people without speech is considered outdated and offensive and should be avoided. The phrase profoundly deaf is a suitable alternative in many contexts

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mute

(mjuːt)

vb

(Zoology) (of birds) to discharge (faeces)

n

(Zoology) birds' faeces

[C15: from Old French meutir, variant of esmeltir, of Germanic origin; probably related to smelt¹ and melt]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mute

(myut)

adj. mut•er, mut•est, adj.

1. silent; refraining from speech or utterance.

2. not emitting or having sound of any kind.

3. incapable of speech.

4. (of letters) silent; not pronounced.

5. Law. (of a person who has been arraigned) making no plea or refusing to stand trial: to stand mute.

n.

6. a person who does not speak, esp. one who, because of congenital deafness, has never learned to speak.

7. Law. a person who stands mute when arraigned.

8. a mechanical device for muffling the tone of a musical instrument.

9. stop (def. 37).

v.t.

10. to deaden or muffle the sound of.

11. to reduce the intensity of (a color) by the addition of another color.

[1375–1425; Middle English muet < Middle French, assimilated, in the 16th century, to Latin mūtus mute]

mute′ly, adv.

mute′ness, n.

usage: See dumb.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mute

 pack of hounds—Bk. of St. Albans, 1486.

Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

mute

Past participle: muted
Gerund: muting

Imperative

mute

mute

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	mute - a deaf person who is unable to speak deaf-and-dumb person, deaf-mute deaf person - a person with a severe auditory impairment dummy, silent person - a person who does not talk
	2.	mute - a device used to soften the tone of a musical instrument acoustic device - a device for amplifying or transmitting sound sordino, sourdine - a mute for a violin
Verb	1.	mute - deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping damp, tone down, muffle, dampen, dull soften - make (images or sounds) soft or softer
Adj.	1.	mute - expressed without speech; "a mute appeal"; "a silent curse"; "best grief is tongueless"- Emily Dickinson; "the words stopped at her lips unsounded"; "unspoken grief"; "choking exasperation and wordless shame"- Thomas Wolfe unspoken, wordless, tongueless inarticulate, unarticulate - without or deprived of the use of speech or words; "inarticulate beasts"; "remained stupidly inarticulate and saying something noncommittal"; "inarticulate with rage"; "an inarticulate cry"
	2.	mute - unable to speak because of hereditary deafness dumb, silent inarticulate, unarticulate - without or deprived of the use of speech or words; "inarticulate beasts"; "remained stupidly inarticulate and saying something noncommittal"; "inarticulate with rage"; "an inarticulate cry"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

mute

adjective

1. close-mouthed, silent, taciturn, tongue-tied, tight-lipped, unspeaking He was mute, distant and indifferent.

2. silent, dumb, unspoken, tacit, wordless, voiceless, unvoiced I threw her a mute look of appeal.

3. dumb, speechless, voiceless, unspeaking, aphasic, aphonic The duke's daughter became mute after a shock.

verb

1. tone down, lower, moderate, subdue, dampen, soft-pedal Bush muted his racially moderate views.

2. muffle, subdue, moderate, lower, turn down, soften, dampen, tone down, deaden The wooded hillside muted the sounds.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

mute

adjective

1. Temporarily unable or unwilling to speak, as from shock or fear:

dumb, inarticulate, mum, silent, speechless, voiceless, wordless.

2. Lacking the power or faculty of speech:

aphonic, dumb, inarticulate, speechless, voiceless.

verb

1. To decrease or dull the sound of:

dampen, deaden, muffle, stifle.

2. To make or become less severe or extreme:

moderate, qualify, soften, subdue, tame, temper, tone down.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

صامِتغَيْر مَنْطوق بهلا يَسْتَطيع الكلام، أخْرَس

глухоням

němýneznělá hláska

stum

stummDämpfer

mudo

äänetönhiljentäämykistäämykkävaientaa

muetmuettesourdineamuïssementassourdir

hangfogónémaszordínó

mállausòögull

sordinamutosordinosordomuto

bežadisnebylusnetariamas

mēmsmēms, bezvārdu-neizrunājams

gedemptstilstomstomme

stumdrittmutistskittsordin

mudo

немканемой

nevyslovený

nemnemanemo

sordinstumtyst

dilsizokunmayansessiz

不出声的不发音的哑的

mute

[mjuːt]

A. ADJ → mudo
to become mute → enmudecer
with H mute → con hache muda

B. N

1. (= person) → mudo/a m/f

2. (Mus) → sordina f

3. (Ling) → letra f muda

C. VT (Mus) → poner sordina a; [+ noise] → amortiguar; [+ feelings etc] → acallar

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

mute

[ˈmjuːt]

adj → muet(te)

vt

[+ criticism] → modérer, tempérer

[+ sound] → atténuer

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

mute

adj → stumm (also Ling); amazement, rage → sprachlos; mute (Comput: command) → Ton aus; to be mute about something → über etw (acc) → schweigen; to sit mute → schweigend dasitzen; he was mute with rage → er brachte vor Wut kein Wort heraus

n

(= dumb person) → Stumme(r) mf

(= hired mourner) → Totenkläger m; (= woman) → Klageweib nt

(Mus) → Dämpfer m

vt → dämpfen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

mute

[mjuːt]

1. adj (-r (comp) (-st (superl))) → muto/a

2. n (person) → muto/a (Mus) → sordina

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

mute

(mjuːt) adjective

1. unable to speak; dumb. stom لا يَسْتَطيع الكلام، أخْرَس ням mudo němý stumm stum μουγγόςmudo tumm لال puhumaton muet אִלֵם मूक nijem néma bisu mállaus muto 口のきけない 말 못하는 nebylus mēms bisu stomstumniemy لال mudo mut немой nemý nem nem stum ใบ้ dilsiz 瘖啞的 німий گونگا câm 哑的

2. silent. She gazed at him in mute horror. stil, sprakeloos صامِت тих mudo němý stumm stum άφωνος, σιωπηλόςmudo sõnatu بى صدا äänetön muet שוֹתֵק मौन utišan néma bisu þögull muto 無言の 침묵하는 tylus, beþadis mēms, bezvārdu- senyap stomstum, stillemilczący, niemy بی غږه mudo tăcut молчаливый nemý, tichý nem tih tyst, mållös เงียบ sessiz 沉默不語的 мовчазний خاموش yên lặng 不出声的

3. (of a letter) not sounded in certain words. The word `dumb' has a mute `b' at the end. uitspraakloos, stemloos غَيْر مَنْطوق به непроизнасян mudo neznělá hláska stumm stum άφωνος, μη προφερόμενος mudo hääldumatu صامت ääntymätön muet שוֹתֵק आवाज मंद करना koji se ne izgovara néma tidak berbunyi þögull muto 黙字の 묵음의 netariamas neizrunājams tidak berbunyi stomstumniemy بی غږه mudo mut немой nevyslovený nezveneč bezvučan stum ไม่ออกเสียง okunmayan (字母)不發音的 такий, що не вимовляється بے آواز âm câm 不发音的

ˈmutely adverb

stom بِصَمْتٍ، حَرف غَيْر مَنْطوق беззвучно mudamente němě stumm stumt βουβά en silencio hääletult بطور گنگ äänettömästi en silence בִּשתִיקָה गूंगापन nijemo némán dengan membisu í hljóði in silenzio 黙って 무언으로 nebyliai, tyliai mēmi; bez skaņas secara senyap stomtaust, stumt niemo ګنګه mudamente în linişte, în tăcere молча; безмолвно nemo nemo nemo stumt, tyst อย่างไม่ออกเสียง sessizce 瘖啞地，沉默不語地，(字母)不發音地 мовчки خاموشی سے، چپ چاپ một cách yên lặng 无言地，不出声地

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

mute

n. mudo-a.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

mute

adj & n mudo -da mf

English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.