Mute vs Mum - What's the difference?
mute | mum | Related terms |
Not having the power of speech; dumb.
* Ovid: Metamorphoses , translated by (John Dryden)
Silent; not making a sound.
* Milton
* 1956 , Ernst Kaiser and Eithne Wilkins (?, translators), Lion Feuchtwanger (German author), Raquel: The Jewess of Toledo'' (translation of '' ), Messner, page 178:
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.
(obsolete, theatre) An actor who does not speak; a mime performer.
* 1668 OF Dramatick Poesie, AN ESSAY. By JOHN DRYDEN Esq; ((John Dryden))
A person who does not have the power of speech.
A hired mourner at a funeral; an undertaker's assistant.
*
* 1978 , (Lawrence Durrell), Livia'', Faber & Faber 1992 (''Avignon Quintet ), p. 481:
(music) An object for dulling the sound of an instrument, especially a brass instrument, or damper for pianoforte; a sordine.
To silence, to make quiet.
To turn off the sound of.
To cast off; to moult.
* Beaumont and Fletcher
(UK, Australia, Canada, New England, informal) Mother.
* 1993 , Hilda Hollingsworth, Places of Greater Safety , Zenobia Press edition,
* 2004 , Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen, Irene Dunlap, Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul 2 ,
* 2006 , ,
* 2011 , Chyna, FAM: Rolling in a London Girl Gang ,
(dated) A term of respect for an older woman.
* 1840 , , Volume 1, 1851,
* 1885 , , 2011,
(colloquial) silent.
* Shakespeare
(colloquial) secret.
stop speaking! hush!
* Shakespeare
to act in a pantomime or dumb show
(obsolete) silence
A sort of strong beer, originally made in Brunswick, Germany.
Mute is a related term of mum.
As a verb mute
is .As an adjective mute
is mutated.As a proper noun mum is
one's mother.mute
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m), (m), (etyl) (m), from .Adjective
(er)- 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.
- All the heavenly choir stood mute , / And silence was in heaven.
- “ 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 !”
Noun
(en noun)- 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:
- 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.
- Then followed a long silence during which the mute turned to them and said, ‘Of course you'll be wanting an urn, sir?’
Verb
(mut)- Please mute the music while I make a call.
Derived terms
* muterSee also
* autism * dumbEtymology 2
From (etyl) (m), probably a shortened form of (m), ultimately from (etyl).Verb
(mut)- (Ben Jonson)
Etymology 3
(etyl) (lena) .Verb
(mut)- Have I muted all my feathers?
mum
English
Alternative forms
* mam * mom, Mom (US) * MumEtymology 1
Alternative form of mam, or an abbreviation of mummy. Compare mom, mama.Noun
(en noun)page 278,
- 'Ooh Mum', Auntie don?t allow smokin’ - Pat?s eyes were round with awe as ' Mum struck a match.
page 336,
- Her mum says that she is deaf and only partially sighted, so I need to go and stand in front of her, so she can see the gift.
page 88,
- “Mum'! '''Mum'''!” he shouted out. The laughter stopped. Two bright, sparkling yellow eyes peeped from the hollow. Atop her head were the fluffy ear tufts that his '''mum''' was so proud of because they were fuller and lovelier than those of most Great Horned Owls. It was indeed his ' mum !
unnumbered page,
- He?s looking at my mum , at her swollen eyes, busted nose and bloodied lips. She?s mashed up something chronic, and the man who did this to her is my dad.
page 130,
- “Wy, mum',” said Mr. Weller, “I don?t think you?ll see a many sich, and that?s the truth. But if my son Samivel vould give me my vay, '''mum , and dis-pense with his—''might I wenter to say the vurd?”
- “What word Mr Weller?” said the housekeeper, blushing slightly.
- “Petticuts, mum ,” returned that gentleman, laying his had upon the garments of his grandson. “If my son Samivel vould only dis-pense vith these here, you?d see sich a alteration in his appearance, as the imagination can?t depicter!”
unnumbered page,
- Then she took off the hank and looked me straight in the face, and very pleasant, and says:
- “Come, now, what?s your real name?
- “Wh -- what, mum ?”
- “What?s your real name? Is it Bill, or Tom, or Bob? -- Or what is it?”
Usage notes
Mum is only capitalized when used as a proper noun: * I don't think Mum will like you. * I don't think my mum will like you. *In New England, the word may still be spelt "mom", but it will have the pronunciation of "mum."Synonyms
* See alsoEtymology 2
Abbreviation of chrysanthemum.Etymology 3
From (etyl) mum or .Adjective
(-)- The citizens are mum , and speak not a word.
Derived terms
* keep mum * mum's the wordInterjection
- Mum , then, and no more.
Verb
(mumm)Noun
(-)- (Hudibras)
Etymology 4
(etyl) Mummere, named after Christian Mumme, who first brewed it in 1492.Noun
(-)- (Addison)
- The clamorous crowd is hushed with mugs of mum . — Alexander Pope.
