Search results for 'mute':

mute adj (muter, mutest) 1 said of a person: physically or psychologically unable to speak; dumb. 2 silent. 3 felt, but not expressed in words • mute anger. 4 said of a letter in a word: not sounded, like the final e in many English words, eg bite, mute. 5 law said of a person: refusing to plead. noun 1 medicine someone who is physically unable to speak, eg as a result of deafness since birth or brain damage. 2 psychol someone who refuses to speak, eg as a result of psychological trauma or illness. 3 any of various devices that soften or deaden the sound of a musical instrument. 4 an unsounded letter in a word. verb (muted, muting) to soften or deaden the sound of (a musical instrument). mutely adverb. muteness noun. mutism noun, medicine, psychol inability or refusal to speak.
ETYMOLOGY: 14c: French, from Latin mutus silent.