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Discreet vs Mute - What's the difference?

discreet | mute | Related terms |

Discreet is a related term of mute.


As adjectives the difference between discreet and mute

is that discreet is respectful of privacy or secrecy; quiet; diplomatic while mute is mutated.

As a verb mute is

.

discreet

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Respectful of privacy or secrecy; quiet; diplomatic.
    • With a discreet gesture, she reminded him to mind his manners.
    John just doesn't understand that laughing at Mary all day is not very discreet .
  • Not drawing attention, anger or challenge; inconspicuous.

    • Usage notes

    * Do not confuse with discrete .

    Derived terms

    * discreetly * discretion

    Anagrams

    * ----

    mute

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), (m), (etyl) (m), from .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Not having the power of speech; dumb.
  • * Ovid: Metamorphoses , translated by (John Dryden)
    • Thus, while the mute creation downward bend / Their sight, and to their earthly mother tend, / Man looks aloft; and with erected eyes / Beholds his own hereditary skies. / From such rude principles our form began; / And earth was metamorphos'd into Man.
  • Silent; not making a sound.
  • * Milton
    • All the heavenly choir stood mute , / And silence was in heaven.
  • * 1956 , Ernst Kaiser and Eithne Wilkins (?, translators), Lion Feuchtwanger (German author), Raquel: The Jewess of Toledo'' (translation of '' ), Messner, page 178:
    • “ The heathens have broken into Thy Temple, and Thou art silent! Esau mocks Thy Children, and Thou remainest mute'! Show thyself, arise, and let Thy Voice resound, Thou '''mutest''' among all the ' mute !”
  • Not uttered; unpronounced; silent; also, produced by complete closure of the mouth organs which interrupt the passage of breath; said of certain letters.
  • Not giving a ringing sound when struck; said of a metal.

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete, theatre) An actor who does not speak; a mime performer.
  • * 1668 OF Dramatick Poesie, AN ESSAY. By JOHN DRYDEN Esq; ((John Dryden))
    • As for the poor honest Maid, whom all the Story is built upon, and who ought to be one of the principal Actors in the Play, she is commonly a Mute in it:
  • A person who does not have the power of speech.
  • A hired mourner at a funeral; an undertaker's assistant.
  • *
    • The little box was eventually carried in one hand by the leading mute , while his colleague, with a finger placed on the lid, to prevent it from swaying, walked to one side and a little to the rear.
  • * 1978 , (Lawrence Durrell), Livia'', Faber & Faber 1992 (''Avignon Quintet ), p. 481:
    • Then followed a long silence during which the mute turned to them and said, ‘Of course you'll be wanting an urn, sir?’
  • (music) An object for dulling the sound of an instrument, especially a brass instrument, or damper for pianoforte; a sordine.
    • Related terms
    * mutism

    Verb

    (mut)
  • To silence, to make quiet.
  • To turn off the sound of.
    • Please mute the music while I make a call.
    Derived terms
    * muter

    See also

    * autism * dumb

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (m), probably a shortened form of (m), ultimately from (etyl).

    Verb

    (mut)
    • (Ben Jonson)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The faeces of a hawk or falcon.
    • (Hudibras)

    Etymology 3

    (etyl) (lena) .

    Verb

    (mut)
  • To cast off; to moult.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
    • Have I muted all my feathers?
    ----