mute

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See also: Mute, muté, and mutē

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.]
    • 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.]
    • Milton
      All 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),[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!”
  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.
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from mute
Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

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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.]
    • 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.]
    • 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.]
Translations[edit]

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]

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.]
    • 1946, George Orwell, Animal Farm, Signet Classics, pages 40–41:
      All the pigeons, to the number of thirty-five, flew to and fro over the men's heads and muted upon them from mid-air;...
    (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]

Etymology 3[edit]

From 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 Fletcher
      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 f pl

  1. Feminine plural of adjective muto.

Noun[edit]

mute f pl

  1. plural of muta

Latgalian[edit]

Noun[edit]

mute f

  1. mouth

Latin[edit]

Adjective[edit]

mūte

  1. vocative masculine singular of mūtus

Latvian[edit]

Wikipedia-logo.png
 mute on Latvian Wikipedia
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 [script needed] (mēni, “chin”), Proto-Germanic *munþaz (“mouth”) (English mouth, German Mund, Dutch mond, Swedish mun, Icelandic munnur, Gothic 𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (munþs)).

Pronunciation[edit]

 (file)

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 (5th declension)
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

  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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