Mute

Pronunciation

• UK enPR: myoÍžot, IPA: /mjuːt/
• Rhymes: -uːt
• Homophones: moot in some dialects

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

Full definition of mute

Adjective

1. Not having the power of speech; dumb. from 15th c.
• Ovid: Metamorphoses, translated by John Dryden 17th c.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.
2. Silent; not making a sound. from 15th c.
• MiltonAll 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 Die Jüdin von Toledo), 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.

Noun

1. (phonetics, now historical) A stopped consonant; a stop. from 16th c.
2. (obsolete, theatre) 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.
• Peake GormenghastThe 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?’
5. (music) An object for dulling the sound of an instrument, especially a brass instrument, or damper for pianoforte; a sordine. from 18th c.

Related terms

• mutism

Verb

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

Derived terms

• muter

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

Verb

1. (now rare) Of a bird: to defecate. from 15th c.

Noun

1. The faeces of a hawk or falcon.

Latin mutare ("to change").

Verb

1. (transitive) To cast off; to moult.
• Beaumont and FletcherHave I muted all my feathers?----