deafen

English

Etymology

From deaf +‎ -en (verbal suffix). Compare Middle English deven, deaven (“to make deaf”), Old English ādēafian (“to deafen”) and Old English ādȳfan, Dutch verdoven (“to stupefy, deafen”), German betäuben (“to stun, stupefy, deafen”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛfən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛfən

Verb

deafen (third-person singular simple present deafens, present participle deafening, simple past and past participle deafened)

1. (transitive) To make deaf, either temporarily or permanently.

   The head injury deafened her for life.

2. (transitive) To make soundproof.

   to deafen a wall or a floor

3. (transitive, rare, dialectal, sometimes figurative) To stun, as with noise.
   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     Racine left the ground […] deafened, dazzled and tired to death.

Derived terms

• bedeafen
• deafener
• undeafen
• undeafened

Translations

to make deaf

• Arabic: أَصَمَّ (ʔaṣamma)
• Armenian: խլացնել (hy) (xlacʻnel)
• Aromanian: asurdzãscu
• Belarusian: аглу́шваць impf (ahlúšvacʹ), глушы́ць (be) impf (hlušýcʹ), аглушы́ць pf (ahlušýcʹ)
• Breton: bouzarañ (br)
• Bulgarian: оглуша́вам (bg) impf (oglušávam), оглуша́ (bg) pf (oglušá)
• Catalan: ensordir (ca)
• Dutch: verdoven (nl), doof maken
• Finnish: kuurouttaa
• French: assourdir (fr), rendre sourd
• Galician: enxordar, axordar
• German: taub machen
• Greek: κουφαίνω (el) (koufaíno)
• Hungarian: megsüketít (hu)
• Indonesian: menulikan (id)
• Irish: bodhraigh
• Japanese: 聾する (ろうする, rōsuru)
• Korean: 귀를 먹먹하게 하다 (gwi-reul meongmeokhage hada)
• Macedonian: оглуви (ogluvi)
• Polish: ogłuszać (pl) impf, ogłuszyć (pl) pf
• Portuguese: ensurdecer (pt)
• Romanian: asurzi (ro)
• Russian: оглуша́ть (ru) impf (oglušátʹ), глуши́ть (ru) impf (glušítʹ), оглуши́ть (ru) pf (oglušítʹ)
• Spanish: ensordecer (es)
• Ukrainian: оглуша́ти impf (ohlušáty), глуши́ти impf (hlušýty), оглу́шувати impf (ohlúšuvaty), оглуши́ти pf (ohlušýty)

to make soundproof

• Bulgarian: заглуша́вам (bg) impf (zaglušávam), заглуша́ (bg) pf (zaglušá), пра́вя звуконепроница́ем impf (právja zvukonepronicáem)
• Dutch: geluiddicht maken
• Finnish: äänieristää
• Russian: заглуши́ть (ru) pf (zaglušítʹ), приглуши́ть (ru) pf (priglušítʹ)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} הִתְחָרֵשׁ (hitkharésh)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} surdigar (io)