— mutely , adv. — muteness , n.
/myooht/ , adj., muter, mutest , n. , v. , muted, muting .
adj.
1. silent; refraining from speech or utterance.
2. not emitting or having sound of any kind.
3. incapable of speech; dumb.
4. (of letters) silent; not pronounced.
5. Law. (of a person who has been arraigned) making no plea or giving an irrelevant response when arraigned, or refusing to stand trial (used chiefly in the phrase to stand mute ).
6. Fox Hunting. (of a hound) hunting a line without giving tongue or cry.
n.
7. a person incapable of speech.
8. an actor whose part is confined to dumb show.
9. Law. a person who stands mute when arraigned.
10. Also called sordino . a mechanical device of various shapes and materials for muffling the tone of a musical instrument.
11. Phonet. a stop.
12. Brit. Obs. a hired mourner at a funeral; a professional mourner.
v.t.
13. to deaden or muffle the sound of.
14. to reduce the intensity of (a color) by the addition of another color.
[ 1325-75; mutus dumb; r. ME muet mu ( mutus ) + unexplained suffix -et; cf. -ET ]
Syn. 3. still. See dumb .
Ant. 1. talkative.