I. mute 1 /mjuːt/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: muet , from Latin mutus ]
1 . written someone who is mute does not speak, or refuses to speak SYN silent :
Billy continued to stand there, mute and defiant.
2 . old-fashioned someone who is mute is unable to speak
—mutely adverb
II. mute 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . formal to make the sound of something quieter, or make it disappear completely:
Excess noise can be reduced by muting alarms and telephones.
2 . to make a musical instrument sound softer
3 . formal to reduce the level of criticism, protest, discussion etc that is happening:
The incident so shocked all the students that it muted further protest.
III. mute 3 BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . a small piece of metal, rubber etc that you place over or into a musical instrument to make it sound softer
2 . old-fashioned someone who cannot speak
⇨ ↑ deaf mute