mute

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See also Mute, muté, and mutē

Contents

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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

Adjective[edit]

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.]
    • 1956, Ernst Kaiser and Eithne Wilkins (?, translators), Lion Feuchtwanger (German author), Raquel: The Jewess of Toledo (translation of Die Jüdin von Toledo),[1] 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!”
Translations[edit]
not having the power of speech
silent, not making a sound

Noun[edit]

Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia mute (plural mutes)

  1. (phonetics, now historical) A stopped consonant; a stop. [from 16th c.]
  2. (obsolete, theater) An actor who does not speak; a mime performer. [16th-19th c.]
  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.]
    • 1950, Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast
      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, 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[edit]
Translations[edit]
person unable to speak
silent acting part
sordine
hired mourner, undertaker's assistant

Verb[edit]

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.
    Please mute the music while I make a call.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
silence, make quiet
turn off the sound of

See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

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

  1. (now rare) Of a bird: to defecate. [from 15th c.]
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Ben Jonson to this entry?)

Noun[edit]

mute (plural mutes)

  1. The faeces of a hawk or falcon.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Hudibras to this entry?)
Translations[edit]
bird droppings

Etymology 3[edit]

Latin mutare (“to change”).

Verb[edit]

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

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

French[edit]

Verb[edit]

mute

  1. first-person singular present indicative of muter
  2. third-person singular present indicative of muter
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of muter
  4. first-person singular present subjunctive of muter
  5. second-person singular imperative of muter

Anagrams[edit]

Italian[edit]

Adjective[edit]

mute (pl)

  1. feminine form of muto

Noun[edit]

mute f

  1. Plural form of muta

Latin[edit]

Adjective[edit]

mūte

  1. vocative masculine singular of mūtus

Latvian[edit]

Wikipedia-logo.png
 Mute on Latvian Wikipedia

Wikipedia lv

Mute

Etymology[edit]

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 mēni (“chin”), Proto-Germanic *munþaz (“mouth”) (English mouth, German Mund, Dutch mond, Swedish mun, Icelandic munnur, Gothic 𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (munþs)).

Noun[edit]

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)

Declension[edit]

declension of mute
singular (vienskaitlis) plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs) mute mutes
accusative (akuzatīvs) muti mutes
genitive (ģenitīvs) mutes mutu
dative (datīvs) mutei mutēm
instrumental (instrumentālis) muti mutēm
locative (lokatīvs) mutē mutēs
vocative (vokatīvs) mute mutes

Derived terms[edit]

Spanish[edit]

Verb[edit]

mute (infinitive mutar)

  1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of mutar.
  2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of mutar.
  3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of mutar.
  4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of mutar.
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