mute - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English muet, from Anglo-Norman muet, moet, Middle French muet, from mu (“dumb, mute”) + -et, remodelled after Latin mūtus.

mute (comparative muter, superlative mutest)

  1. Not having the power of speech; dumb. [from 15th c.]
  2. Silent; not making a sound. [from 15th c.]
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature I2, verso, lines 217–218:
      He ask’d, but all the Heav’nly Quire ſtood mute, / And ſilence was in Heav’n: […]
    • 1956, Ernst Kaiser and Eithne Wilkins (?, translators), Lion Feuchtwanger (German author), Raquel: The Jewess of Toledo (translation of Die Jüdin von Toledo),[2] 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!”
  3. Not uttered; unpronounced; silent; also, produced by complete closure of the mouth organs which interrupt the passage of breath; said of certain letters.
  4. Not giving a ringing sound when struck; said of a metal.

not having the power of speech

silent, not making a sound

mute (plural mutes)

  1. (phonetics, now obsolete) A stopped consonant; a stop. [from 16th c.]
    Synonyms: occlusive, plosive, stop
  2. (obsolete, theater) An actor who does not speak; a mime performer. [16th–19th c.]
    • 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:
  3. A person who does not have the power of speech. [from 17th c.]
  4. A hired mourner at a funeral; an undertaker's assistant. [from 18th c.]
    • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter IX, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 95:
      He asked about the undertaking business, and how many mutes went down with Lady Estrich’s remains […]
    • 1950, Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, →OCLC:
      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 (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 481:
      Then followed a long silence during which the mute turned to them and said, ‘Of course you'll be wanting an urn, sir?’
  5. (music) An object for dulling the sound of an instrument, especially a brass instrument, or damper for pianoforte; a sordine. [from 18th c.]
  6. An electronic switch or control that mutes the sound.
    • 2012, Tomlinson Holman, Sound for Film and Television, page 174:
      Another related primary control is called a mute, which is simply a switch that kills the signal altogether, allowing for a speedier turn-off than turning the fader all the way down rapidly. Mutes are probably more commonly used during multitrack music recording than during film mixing because in music all tracks are on practically all of the time, whereas workstations produce silence when there is no desired signal […]
  7. A mute swan.
    • 1998, Bob Devine, National Geographic Society (U.S.), Alien invasion: America's battle with non-native animals and plants:
      The trumpeters' fate seems likely to get tangled with that of the mute swan. Currently there's enough habitat for both species, but that may change if trumpeters flourish and mutes aren't controlled. Right now mutes are thriving.
  8. (Internet) An action of muting, especially in a discussion forum as a penalty for breaking rules.

person unable to speak

sordine

mute (third-person singular simple present mutes, present participle muting, simple past and past participle muted)

  1. (transitive) To silence, to make quiet.
  2. (transitive) To turn off the sound of.
    Antonym: unmute
    Please mute the music while I make a call.

silence, make quiet

turn off the sound of

From Middle French muetir, probably a shortened form of esmeutir, ultimately from Proto-Germanic.

mute (third-person singular simple present mutes, present participle muting, simple past and past participle muted)

  1. (archaic) Of a bird: to defecate. [from 15th c.]

mute (plural mutes)

  1. The faeces of a hawk or falcon.

From Latin mutare (“to change”).

mute (third-person singular simple present mutes, present participle muting, simple past and past participle muted)

  1. (transitive) To cast off; to moult.

From muta +‎ -e.

mute

  1. mutely, speechlessly

mute

  1. inflection of muter:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

mute

  1. inflection of mutar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

mute

  1. feminine plural of muto

mute f pl

  1. plural of muta

Cognates include Latvian mute.

mute f

  1. mouth

mūte

  1. vocative masculine singular of mūtus

mute on Latvian Wikipedia

Mute

mute

mute

From Proto-Indo-European *mnt-, *ment- (“to chew; jaw, mouth”). Cognate with Latin mentum (“chin”) and mandō (“to chew”), Ancient Greek μάσταξ (mástax, “jaws, mouth”) and μασάομαι (masáomai, “to chew”), Welsh mant (“jawbone”), Hittite [script needed] (mēni, “chin”), Proto-Germanic *munþaz (“mouth”) (English mouth, German Mund, Dutch mond, Swedish mun, Icelandic munnur, Gothic 𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (munþs)). Another suggestion is a root *mu-, perhaps of ideophonic origin (noise made by using the vocal chords when the mouth is closed), apparently found also in other words (e.g. German Maul).[1]

mute f (5th declension)

  1. (anatomy) mouth (orifice for ingesting food)
    mutes orgāni ― mouth organs
    aizvērt muti ― to close one's mouth
    plātīt muti ― to keep one's mouth open, to gape
    turēt mutē konfekti ― to have candy in one's mouth
    mutes kaktiņi ― corners of the mouth
    mutes harmonikas ― harmonica (musical instrument)
  2. orifice, opening, entrance
    krāsns mute ― the mouth of the oven
  3. face
    mazgāt muti ― to wash one's mouth (= face)
    bērni ar netīrām mutēm ― children with dirty mouths (= faces)
  4. kiss
    dot mutes ― to give mouths (= kisses)
  1. ^ Karulis, Konstantīns (1992), “mute”, in Latviešu Etimoloģijas Vārdnīca [Latvian Etymological Dictionary]‎[1] (in Latvian), Rīga: AVOTS, →ISBN

mute

  1. alternative form of muet

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

mute

  1. (transitive) to feel sorry for
  2. (transitive) to complain about

Onomatopoeic.

mute

  1. (intransitive) to produce the sound jmm

From Old Norse múta from Proto-Germanic *mōtō (of unclear origin). Compare Swedish muta.

mute f (definite singular muta, indefinite plural muter, definite plural mutene)

  1. bribe
  2. secrecy

mute (present tense mutar, past tense muta, past participle muta, passive infinitive mutast, present participle mutande, imperative **mute/mut)

  1. (transitive) to bribe
  2. (transitive) to hide, conceal

From German muten.

mute (present tense mutar, past tense muta, past participle muta, passive infinitive mutast, present participle mutande, imperative **mute/mut)

  1. (mining) to apply for a mining permit

mute

  1. inflection of mutar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

mute

  1. third-person singular/plural present subjunctive of muta

mute (Cyrillic spelling муте)

  1. third-person plural present indicative of mutiti

mute

  1. inflection of mutar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative