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Dumb vs Sum - What's the difference?

dumb | sum |

As an adjective dumb

is (label) unable to speak; lacking power of speech.

As a verb dumb

is to silence.

As a noun sum is

noise (sound or signal generated by random fluctuations).

dumb

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) dumb, from (etyl) . In ordinary spoken English, a phrase like "He is dumb" is interpreted as "He is stupid" rather than "He lacks the power of speech". The latter example, however, is the original sense of the word. The senses of stupid'', ''unintellectual'', and ''pointless developed under the influence of the (etyl) word dumm.

Adjective

(er)
  • (label) Unable to speak; lacking power of speech.
  • * Hooker
    • to unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures
  • (label) Silent; unaccompanied by words.
    • dumb show
  • * Shakespeare
    • This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.
  • *
  • * J. C. Shairp
    • to pierce into the dumb past
  • extremely stupid.
    • You are so dumb ! You don't even know how to make toast!
  • (label) Pointless, foolish, lacking intellectual content or value.
    • This is dumb ! We're driving in circles! We should have asked for directions an hour ago!
    Brendan had the dumb job of moving boxes from one conveyor belt to another.
  • Lacking brightness or clearness, as a colour.
  • * De Foe
    • Her stern was painted of a dumb white or dun color.
    Synonyms
    * (unable to speak) dumbstruck, mute, speechless, wordless * (stupid) feeble-minded, idiotic, moronic, stupid * banal, brainless, dopey, silly, stupid, ridiculous, vulgar
    Derived terms
    * dumb as a box of rocks * dumben * dumbhood * dummy * dumbness

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) dumbien, from (etyl) dumbian (more commonly in compound .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To silence.
  • * 1911 , Lindsay Swift, William Lloyd Garrison , p. 272,
    • The paralysis of the Northern conscience, the dumbing of the Northern voice, were coming to an end.
  • To make stupid.
  • * 2003 , Angela Calabrese Barton, Teaching Science for Social Justice , p. 124,
    • I think she's dumbing us down, so we won't be smarter than her.
  • To represent as stupid.
  • * 2004 , Stephen Oppenheimer, The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey Out of Africa , p. 107,
    • Bad-mouthing Neanderthals . . . is symptomatic of a need to exclude and even demonize. . . . I suggest that the unproven dumbing of the Neanderthals is an example of the same cultural preconception.
  • To reduce the intellectual demands of.
  • * 2002 , Deborah Meier, In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing , p. 126,
    • The ensuing storm caused the department to lower the bar—amid protests that this was dumbing the test down—so that only 80 percent of urban kids would fail.
    Derived terms
    * dumbness * dumb blonde * dumb down * dumbocracy * dumb-show * dumb terminal * dummy * play dumb

    sum

    English

    (wikipedia sum)

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) summe, from (etyl), from (etyl) summa, feminine of .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A quantity obtained by addition or aggregation.
    • The sum of 3 and 4 is 7.
  • * Bible, Numbers i. 2
    • Take ye the sum of all the congregation.
  • (often plural) An arithmetic computation, especially one posed to a student as an exercise (not necessarily limited to addition).
    • We're learning about division, and the sums are tricky.
  • * Charles Dickens
    • a large sheet of paper covered with long sums
  • A quantity of money.
    • a tidy sum
    the sum of forty pounds
  • * Bible, Acts xxii. 28
    • With a great sum obtained I this freedom.
  • A summary; the principal points or thoughts when viewed together; the amount; the substance; compendium.
    • This is the sum of all the evidence in the case.
    This is the sum and substance of his objections.
  • A central idea or point.
  • The utmost degree.
  • * Milton
    • Thus have I told thee all my state, and brought / My story to the sum of earthly bliss.
  • (obsolete) An old English measure of corn equal to the quarter.
  • * 1882 , James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England , Volume 4, page 207:
    • The sum is also used for the quarter, and the strike for the bushel.
    Synonyms
    * (quantity obtained by addition or aggregation) amount, sum total, summation, total, totality * (arithmetic computation) calculation, computation * (quantity of money) amount, quantity of money, sum of money * (summary) See summary * (central idea or point) center/centre, core, essence, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, nub, nitty-gritty, pith substance * (utmost degree) See summit * quarter
    Derived terms
    * a tidy sum * checksum * empty sum * nullary sum
    Related terms
    * summand * summary * summation * summative
    See also
    * addition, summation: (augend) + (addend) = (summand) + (summand) = (sum, total) * subtraction: (minuend) ? (subtrahend) = (difference) * multiplication: (multiplier) × (multiplicand) = (factor) × (factor) = (product) * division: (dividend) ÷ (divisor) = (quotient), remainder left over if divisor does not divide dividend

    Verb

    (summ)
  • To add together.
  • * 2005 , .
    • when you say that stability and change are, it's because you're summing them up together as embraced by it, and taking note of the communion each of them has with being.
  • To give a summary of.
    • Synonyms
    * (to add together) add, add together, add up, sum up, summate, tally, tot, tot up, total, tote up * (to give a summary of) See summarize

    Etymology 2

    From the (etyl) , all of which have the core signification “pure”, used in elliptical reference to historical coins of pure gold.

    Alternative forms

    *

    Noun

  • (en noun)
  • The basic unit of money in Kyrgyzstan.
  • The basic unit of money in Uzbekistan.

    • External links

    * * *

    Anagrams

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