• Silent

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /ˈsaɪlÉ™nt/

    Alternative forms

    • scilent hyper‐correct, obsolete

    Origin

    From Latin silēnt-, silēns ("silent"), present participle of sileō ("be silent"), from Proto-Indo-European *seil- ("still, windless, quiet, slow"). Cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌽 (anasilan, "to cease, grow still, be silent"), Old English sālnes ("silence").

    Full definition of silent

    Adjective

    silent

    1. Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.
      • 1604, William Shakespeare, Othello, act 5, sc. 1:How silent is this town!
      • 1825, Samuel Johnson, 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.
    2. Not speaking; indisposed to talk; speechless; mute; taciturn; not loquacious; not talkative.
      • BroomeUlysses, adds he, was the most eloquent and most silent of men.
      • MiltonThis new-created world, whereof in hell
        Fame is not silent.
    3. Keeping at rest; inactive; calm; undisturbed.The wind is silent.
    4. (pronunciation) Not pronounced; having no sound; quiescent.The e is silent in fable.
    5. Having no effect; not operating; inefficient.
      • Sir Walter RaleighCause ... silent, virtueless, and dead.
    6. (technology) Without audio capability.The Magnavox Odyssey was a silent console.
    7. Hidden, unseen.a silent voter; a silent partner

    Noun

    silent

    (plural silents)
    1. (uncountable) That which is silent; a time of silence.
    2. A silent movie
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