mute

[myoot] /myut/
adjective, muter, mutest.
1.
silent; refraining from speech or utterance.
2.
not emitting or having sound of any kind.
3.
incapable of speech; dumb.
4.
(of letters) silent; not pronounced.
5.
Law. (of a person who has been arraigned) making no plea or giving an irrelevant response when arraigned, or refusing to stand trial (used chiefly in the phrase to stand mute).
6.
Fox Hunting. (of a hound) hunting a line without giving tongue or cry.
noun
7.
Offensive. a person incapable of speech.
8.
an actor whose part is confined to dumb show.
9.
Law. a person who stands mute when arraigned.
10.
Also called sordino. a mechanical device of various shapes and materials for muffling the tone of a musical instrument.
11.
Phonetics. a stop.
12.
British Obsolete. a hired mourner at a funeral; a professional mourner.
verb (used with object), muted, muting.
13.
to deaden or muffle the sound of.
14.
to reduce the intensity of (a color) by the addition of another color.
Origin
1325-75; < Latin mūtus dumb; replacing Middle English muet < Middle French, equivalent to Old French mu (< Latin mūtus) + unexplained suffix -et; cf. -et
Related forms
mutely, adverb
muteness, noun
Can be confused
moot, mute.
Antonyms
1. talkative.
Usage note
See dumb.
Examples from the web for mute
  • Melding humans and machines to help the paralyzed walk, the mute speak, and the near-dead return to life.
  • Gigot is mute but not meek: he stands up to bullies and neighborhood gangs.
  • Most of the world's robots are faceless, footless and mute.
  • Manage multiple accounts, view photos in landscape mode, and mute users for specified periods.
  • Third, you can mute the audio by tapping the little microphone icon.
  • And since it apparently is set to expire end of year with no legislative action, this is a mute point now anyway.
  • The watch also lets you mute or reject the call without having to access your phone directly.
  • As a damning pile of information has come to light, the government has gone mute.
  • People who have been inside say that the limo is eerily serene, as if the outside world were on mute.
  • We need to mute this factor in the interest of finding solutions.
British Dictionary definitions for mute

mute1

/mjuːt/
adjective
1.
not giving out sound or speech; silent
2.
unable to speak; dumb
3.
unspoken or unexpressed: mute dislike
4.
(law) (of a person arraigned on indictment) refusing to answer a charge
5.
(phonetics) another word for plosive
6.
(of a letter in a word) silent
noun
7.
a person who is unable to speak
8.
(law) a person who refuses to plead when arraigned on indictment for an offence
9.
any of various devices used to soften the tone of stringed or brass instruments
10.
(phonetics) a plosive consonant; stop
11.
a silent letter
12.
an actor in a dumb show
13.
a hired mourner at a funeral
verb (transitive)
14.
to reduce the volume of (a musical instrument) by means of a mute, soft pedal, etc
15.
to subdue the strength of (a colour, tone, lighting, etc)
Derived Forms
mutely, adverb
muteness, noun
Usage note
Using this word to refer to people without speech is considered outdated and offensive and should be avoided. The phrase profoundly deaf is a suitable alternative in many contexts
Word Origin
C14: muwet from Old French mu, from Latin mūtus silent

mute2

/mjuːt/
verb
1.
(of birds) to discharge (faeces)
noun
2.
birds' faeces
Word Origin
C15: from Old French meutir, variant of esmeltir, of Germanic origin; probably related to smelt1 and melt
Word Origin and History for mute
adj.

late 14c., mewet "silent," from Old French muet "dumb, mute" (12c.), diminutive of mut, mo, from Latin mutus "silent, speechless, dumb," probably from imitative base *meue- (cf. Sanskrit mukah "dumb," Greek myein "to be shut," of the mouth). Form assimilated in 16c. to Latin mutus.

v.

"deaden the sound of," 1861, from mute (n.). Related: Muted; muting.

n.

1570s, "stage actor in a dumb show;" 1610s as "person who does not speak," from mute (adj.). Musical sense first recorded 1811 of stringed instruments, 1841, of horns.

mute in Medicine

mute (myōōt)
adj.
Unable or unwilling to speak. n.
One who does not have the faculty of speech. No longer in technical use, considered offensive.