sor·di·no
(sôr-dē′nō)n. pl. sor·di·ni (-nē) Music
A mute for an instrument.
[Italian, diminutive of sordo, deaf, mute, from Latin surdus.]
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.
sordino
(sɔːˈdiːnəʊ)n, pl -ni (-niː)
1. (Instruments) a mute for a stringed or brass musical instrument
2. (Instruments) any of the dampers that arrest the vibrations of piano strings
3. (Classical Music) con sordino con sordini a musical direction to play with a mute
4. (Classical Music) senza sordino senza sordini a musical direction to remove or play without the mute or (on the piano) with the sustaining pedal pressed down
[Italian: from sordo deaf, from Latin surdus]
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.
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.
sordino - a mute for a violin