mute

(redirected from mutest)
Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia.

mute

silent; refraining from speech; incapable of speech; to deaden or muffle the sound of
Not to be confused with:
moot – debatable; undecided: a moot point; disputable, unsettled
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

mute

 (myo͞ot)
adj. mut·er, mut·est
1. Refraining from producing speech or vocal sound.
2.
a. Offensive Unable to speak.
b. Unable to vocalize, as certain animals.
3. Expressed without speech; unspoken: a mute appeal.
4. Law Declining to enter a plea to a criminal charge: standing mute.
5. Linguistics
a. Not pronounced; silent, as the e in the word house.
b. Pronounced with a temporary stoppage of breath, as the sounds (p) and (b); plosive; stopped.
n.
1. Offensive One who is incapable of speech.
2. Law A defendant who declines to enter a plea to a criminal charge.
3. Music Any of various devices used to muffle or soften the tone of an instrument.
4. Linguistics
a. A silent letter.
b. A plosive; a stop.
tr.v. mut·ed, mut·ing, mutes
1. To soften or muffle the sound of.
2. To soften the tone, color, shade, or hue of.

[Middle English muet, from Old French, from diminutive of mu, from Latin mūtus.]

mute′ly adv.
mute′ness n.
Usage Note: In reference to people who are unable to speak, mute and deaf-mute are now usually considered objectionable. Unlike blind and deaf, which are straightforward terms that need not be avoided out of fear of causing offense, mute and deaf-mute have fallen out of use and are likely to evoke older stereotypes of helplessness or pitiableness. They are especially objectionable if taken to imply that a person who cannot or does not use oral speech is thereby deprived of language. Many people who lack the ability to speak now converse through ASL or similar sign languages, which have the same communicative utility as spoken language. See Usage Note at deaf.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mute

(mjuːt)
adj
1. not giving out sound or speech; silent
2. (Pathology) offensive unable to speak; dumb
3. unspoken or unexpressed: mute dislike.
4. (Law) law (of a person arraigned on indictment) refusing to answer a charge
5. (Phonetics & Phonology) phonetics another word for plosive
6. (Phonetics & Phonology) (of a letter in a word) silent
n
7. (Pathology) offensive a person who is unable to speak
8. (Law) law a person who refuses to plead when arraigned on indictment for an offence
9. (Instruments) any of various devices used to soften the tone of stringed or brass instruments
10. (Phonetics & Phonology) phonetics a plosive consonant; stop
11. (Phonetics & Phonology) a silent letter
12. (Theatre) an actor in a dumb show
13. a hired mourner at a funeral
vb (tr)
14. (Instruments) to reduce the volume of (a musical instrument) by means of a mute, soft pedal, etc
15. (Art Terms) to subdue the strength of (a colour, tone, lighting, etc)
[C14: muwet from Old French mu, from Latin mūtus silent]
ˈmutely adv
ˈmuteness n
Usage: Using mute to refer to people without speech is considered outdated and offensive and should be avoided. The phrase profoundly deaf is a suitable alternative in many contexts

mute

(mjuːt)
vb
(Zoology) (of birds) to discharge (faeces)
n
(Zoology) birds' faeces
[C15: from Old French meutir, variant of esmeltir, of Germanic origin; probably related to smelt1 and melt]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mute

(myut)

adj. mut•er, mut•est, adj.
1. silent; refraining from speech or utterance.
2. not emitting or having sound of any kind.
3. incapable of speech.
4. (of letters) silent; not pronounced.
5. Law. (of a person who has been arraigned) making no plea or refusing to stand trial: to stand mute.
n.
6. a person who does not speak, esp. one who, because of congenital deafness, has never learned to speak.
7. Law. a person who stands mute when arraigned.
8. a mechanical device for muffling the tone of a musical instrument.
v.t.
10. to deaden or muffle the sound of.
11. to reduce the intensity of (a color) by the addition of another color.
[1375–1425; Middle English muet < Middle French, assimilated, in the 16th century, to Latin mūtus mute]
mute′ly, adv.
mute′ness, n.
usage: See dumb.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mute

 pack of hounds—Bk. of St. Albans, 1486.
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

mute


Past participle: muted
Gerund: muting

Imperative
mute
mute
Present
I mute
you mute
he/she/it mutes
we mute
you mute
they mute
Preterite
I muted
you muted
he/she/it muted
we muted
you muted
they muted
Present Continuous
I am muting
you are muting
he/she/it is muting
we are muting
you are muting
they are muting
Present Perfect
I have muted
you have muted
he/she/it has muted
we have muted
you have muted
they have muted
Past Continuous
I was muting
you were muting
he/she/it was muting
we were muting
you were muting
they were muting
Past Perfect
I had muted
you had muted
he/she/it had muted
we had muted
you had muted
they had muted
Future
I will mute
you will mute
he/she/it will mute
we will mute
you will mute
they will mute
Future Perfect
I will have muted
you will have muted
he/she/it will have muted
we will have muted
you will have muted
they will have muted
Future Continuous
I will be muting
you will be muting
he/she/it will be muting
we will be muting
you will be muting
they will be muting
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been muting
you have been muting
he/she/it has been muting
we have been muting
you have been muting
they have been muting
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been muting
you will have been muting
he/she/it will have been muting
we will have been muting
you will have been muting
they will have been muting
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been muting
you had been muting
he/she/it had been muting
we had been muting
you had been muting
they had been muting
Conditional
I would mute
you would mute
he/she/it would mute
we would mute
you would mute
they would mute
Past Conditional
I would have muted
you would have muted
he/she/it would have muted
we would have muted
you would have muted
they would have muted
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.mute - a deaf person who is unable to speakmute - a deaf person who is unable to speak
deaf person - a person with a severe auditory impairment
dummy, silent person - a person who does not talk
2.mute - a device used to soften the tone of a musical instrument
acoustic device - a device for amplifying or transmitting sound
sordino, sourdine - a mute for a violin
Verb1.mute - deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrappingmute - deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping
soften - make (images or sounds) soft or softer
Adj.1.mute - expressed without speech; "a mute appeal"; "a silent curse"; "best grief is tongueless"- Emily Dickinson; "the words stopped at her lips unsounded"; "unspoken grief"; "choking exasperation and wordless shame"- Thomas Wolfe
inarticulate, unarticulate - without or deprived of the use of speech or words; "inarticulate beasts"; "remained stupidly inarticulate and saying something noncommittal"; "inarticulate with rage"; "an inarticulate cry"
2.mute - unable to speak because of hereditary deafness
inarticulate, unarticulate - without or deprived of the use of speech or words; "inarticulate beasts"; "remained stupidly inarticulate and saying something noncommittal"; "inarticulate with rage"; "an inarticulate cry"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

mute

adjective
1. close-mouthed, silent, taciturn, tongue-tied, tight-lipped, unspeaking He was mute, distant and indifferent.
2. silent, dumb, unspoken, tacit, wordless, voiceless, unvoiced I threw her a mute look of appeal.
3. dumb, speechless, voiceless, unspeaking, aphasic, aphonic The duke's daughter became mute after a shock.
verb
1. tone down, lower, moderate, subdue, dampen, soft-pedal Bush muted his racially moderate views.
2. muffle, subdue, moderate, lower, turn down, soften, dampen, tone down, deaden The wooded hillside muted the sounds.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

mute

adjective
1. Temporarily unable or unwilling to speak, as from shock or fear:
2. Lacking the power or faculty of speech:
verb
1. To decrease or dull the sound of:
2. To make or become less severe or extreme:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
صامِتغَيْر مَنْطوق بهلا يَسْتَطيع الكلام، أخْرَس
глухоням
němýneznělá hláska
stum
äänetönhiljentäämykistäämykkävaientaa
hangfogónémaszordínó
mállausòögull
bežadisnebylusnetariamas
mēmsmēms, bezvārdu-neizrunājams
nevyslovený
nemnemanemo
sordinstumtyst
dilsizokunmayansessiz

mute

[mjuːt]
A. ADJmudo
to become muteenmudecer
with H mutecon hache muda
B. N
1. (= person) → mudo/a m/f
2. (Mus) → sordina f
3. (Ling) → letra f muda
C. VT (Mus) → poner sordina a; [+ noise] → amortiguar; [+ feelings etc] → acallar
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

mute

[ˈmjuːt]
adjmuet(te)
vt
[+ criticism] → modérer, tempérer
[+ sound] → atténuer
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

mute

adjstumm (also Ling); amazement, ragesprachlos; mute (Comput: command) → Ton aus; to be mute about somethingüber etw (acc)schweigen; to sit muteschweigend dasitzen; he was mute with rageer brachte vor Wut kein Wort heraus
n
(= dumb person)Stumme(r) mf
(= hired mourner)Totenkläger m; (= woman)Klageweib nt
(Mus) → Dämpfer m
vtdämpfen
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

mute

[mjuːt]
1. adj (-r (comp) (-st (superl))) → muto/a
2. n (person) → muto/a (Mus) → sordina
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

mute

(mjuːt) adjective
1. unable to speak; dumb.
2. silent. She gazed at him in mute horror.
3. (of a letter) not sounded in certain words. The word `dumb' has a mute `b' at the end.
ˈmutely adverb
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

mute

n. mudo-a.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

mute

adj & n mudo -da mf
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
Thus, a sober gentleman's club, all leather armchairs and oak panelling, would chose matching menu holders, usually in silver with the mutest of decoration, possibly just the club crest and motto.
Addressing the Floor of the House on Wednesday, he said that he had conveyed his message indirectly (and in mutest of tones and clarity!); but both PML-N leaders simply brushed it aside, paying no attention to it.
against the weakest, most vulnerable, and mutest subject" (p.