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Mute vs Silent - What's the difference?

mute | silent |

Silent is a synonym of mute.

Silent is a antonym of mute.



As adjectives the difference between mute and silent

is that mute is not having the power of speech; dumb while silent is free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.

As nouns the difference between mute and silent

is that mute is a stopped consonant; a stop while silent is that which is silent; a time of silence.

As a verb mute

is to silence, to make quiet.

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?
    ----

    silent

    English

    Alternative forms

    * scilent

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.
  • * 1604 , , Othello , act 5, scene 1:
    • How silent is this town!
  • * 1825 , , Arthur Murphy, The Works of Samuel Johnson , Talboys and Wheeler, page 52:
    • What was formerly performed by fleets and armies, by invasions, sieges, and battles, has been of late accomplished by more silent methods.
  • * 1906 , William Dean Howells and Sidney Dillon Ripley, Certain Delightful English Towns: With Glimpses of the Pleasant Country Between , Harper & Brothers, page 152:
    • The voice of the auctioneer is slow and low ; after a pause, which seems no silenter than the rest of the transaction, he ceases to repeat the bids, and his fish, in the measure of a bushel or so, have gone for a matter of three shillings.
  • Not speaking; indisposed to talk; speechless; mute; taciturn; not loquacious; not talkative.
  • * Broome
    • Ulysses, adds he, was the most eloquent and most silent of men.
  • * Milton
    • This new-created world, whereof in hell / Fame is not silent .
  • Keeping at rest; inactive; calm; undisturbed.
    • The wind is silent .
    (Parnell)
    (Sir Walter Raleigh)
  • (pronunciation) Not pronounced; having no sound; quiescent.
    • The ''e'' is silent in ''fable''.
  • Having no effect; not operating; inefficient.
  • * Sir Walter Raleigh
    • Cause silent , virtueless, and dead.
  • (technology) Without audio capability.
    • The Magnavox Odyssey was a silent console.
  • Hidden, unseen.
    • a silent''' voter; a '''silent partner
  • Not implying significant modifications which would affect a peptide sequence.
  • Undiagnosed or undetected because of an absence of symptoms.

    • Synonyms

    * See also * dumb, mute, quiet, speechless, still, taciturn

    Derived terms

    * silent alarm * silent auction * silent barter * silent butler * silent disco * silent film * silent key * silent number * silent partner * silent majority * Silent Sam * silent service * silent treatment * silent vote

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (uncountable) That which is ; a time of silence.
  • :* The silent of the night. Shakespeare
  • A silent movie
  • * {{quote-news, year=2007, date=August 12, author=Woody Allen, title=The Man Who Asked Hard Questions, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=All kinds, silents and talkies. }}

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    External links

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    Anagrams

    * (l) * (l) * (l) * (l) * (l) ----