different between mute vs mum

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: myo?ot, IPA^(key): /mju?t/
• Rhymes: -u?t
• Homophone: moot (in some dialects)

Etymology 1

From Middle English muet, from Anglo-Norman muet, moet, Middle French muet, from mu (“dumb, mute”) + -et, remodelled after Latin m?tus.

Adjective

mute (comparative muter, superlative mutest)

1. Not having the power of speech; dumb. [from 15th c.]
   • 1717 Ovid: Metamorphoses, translated by John Dryden et al.

     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.]
   • 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

Translations

Noun

mute (plural mutes)

1. (phonetics, now historical) A stopped consonant; a stop. [from 16th c.]

   Synonyms: occlusive, plosive, stop

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.]

   • 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.]
6. An electronic switch or control that mutes the sound.
   • 2012, Tomlinson Holman, Sound for Film and Television (page 174)

     Another related primary control is called a mute, which is simply a switch that kills the signal altogether, allowing for a speedier turn-off than turning the fader all the way down rapidly. Mutes are probably more commonly used during multitrack music recording than during film mixing because in music all tracks are on practically all of the time, whereas workstations produce silence when there is no desired signal […]

7. A mute swan.
   • 1998, Bob Devine, National Geographic Society (U.S.), Alien invasion: America's battle with non-native animals and plants

     The trumpeters' fate seems likely to get tangled with that of the mute swan. Currently there's enough habitat for both species, but that may change if trumpeters flourish and mutes aren't controlled. Right now mutes are thriving.

Translations

Verb

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.

Derived terms

• muter

Translations

See also

• dumb

Etymology 2

From Middle French muetir, probably a shortened form of esmeutir, ultimately from Proto-Germanic.

Verb

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

mute (plural mutes)

1. The faeces of a hawk or falcon.

Translations

Etymology 3

From Latin mutare (“to change”).

Verb

mute (third-person singular simple present mutes, present participle muting, simple past and past participle muted)

1. (transitive) To cast off; to moult.

   • Have I muted all my feathers?

Esperanto

Etymology

From muta +? -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?mute/
• Hyphenation: mu?te
• Rhymes: -ute
• Audio:

Adverb

mute

1. mutely, speechlessly

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /myt/

Verb

mute

1. first/third-person singular present indicative of muter
2. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of muter
3. second-person singular imperative of muter

Anagrams

• émut, émût, meut, muet

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?mu.te/
• Hyphenation: mu?te

Adjective

mute

1. feminine plural of muto

Noun

mute f pl

1. plural of muta

Latgalian

Noun

mute f

1. mouth

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?mu?.te/, [?mu?t??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?mu.te/, [?mu?t??]

Adjective

m?te

1. vocative masculine singular of m?tus

Latvian

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *mnt-, *ment- (“to chew; jaw, mouth”). Cognate with Latin mentum (“chin”) and mand? (“to chew”), Ancient Greek ?????? (mástax, “jaws, mouth”) and ???????? (masáomai, “to chew”), Welsh mant (“jawbone”), Hittite [script needed] (m?ni, “chin”), Proto-Germanic *munþaz (“mouth”) (English mouth, German Mund, Dutch mond, Swedish mun, Icelandic munnur, Gothic ???????????????????? (munþs)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mut?]

Noun

mute f (5th declension)

1. (anatomy) mouth (orifice for ingesting food)

2. orifice, opening, entrance

3. face

4. kiss

Declension

Derived terms

• mut?gs
• mutisks

Middle English

Adjective

mute

1. Alternative form of muet

Murui Huitoto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?mu.t?]
• Hyphenation: mu?te

Verb

mute

1. (intransitive) to complain

References

• Katarzyna Izabela Wojtylak (2017) A grammar of Murui (Bue): a Witotoan language of Northwest Amazonia.?^[3], Townsville: James Cook University press (PhD thesis), page 129

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse múta.

Noun

mute f (definite singular muta, indefinite plural muter, definite plural mutene)

1. bribe
2. secrecy

Verb

mute (present tense mutar, past tense muta, past participle muta, passive infinitive mutast, present participle mutande, imperative mut)

1. (transitive) to bribe
2. (transitive) to hide, conceal

Etymology 2

From German muten.

Verb

mute (present tense mutar, past tense muta, past participle muta, passive infinitive mutast, present participle mutande, imperative mut)

1. (mining) to apply for a mining permit

References

• “mute” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Serbo-Croatian

Verb

mute (Cyrillic spelling ????)

1. third-person plural present indicative of mutiti

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?mute]

Verb

mute

1. third-person singular present subjunctive of muta
2. third-person plural present subjunctive of muta

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?mute/, [?mu.t?e]

Verb

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.

English

Alternative forms

• mam
• mom, Mom (US)
• Mum

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m?m/
• Rhymes: -?m

Etymology 1

Alternative form of mam, or an abbreviation of mummy. Compare mom, mama.

Noun

mum (plural mums)

1. (Britain, Australia, New England, Canada, informal) Mother.
   • 1993, Hilda Hollingsworth, Places of Greater Safety, Zenobia Press edition, page 278,

     'Ooh Mum, Auntie don?t allow smokin’ - Pat?s eyes were round with awe as Mum struck a match.

   • 2004, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen, Irene Dunlap, Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul 2, page 336,

     Her mum says that she is deaf and only partially sighted, so I need to go and stand in front of her, so she can see the gift.

   • 2006, Kathryn Lasky, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Book 11: To Be a King, page 88,

     “Mum! Mum!” he shouted out. The laughter stopped. Two bright, sparkling yellow eyes peeped from the hollow. Atop her head were the fluffy ear tufts that his mum was so proud of because they were fuller and lovelier than those of most Great Horned Owls. It was indeed his mum!

   • 2011, Chyna, FAM: Rolling in a London Girl Gang, unnumbered page,

     He?s looking at my mum, at her swollen eyes, busted nose and bloodied lips. She?s mashed up something chronic, and the man who did this to her is my dad.

2. (dated, colloquial) ma'am; a term of respect for an older woman.
   • 1840, Charles Dickens, Master Humphrey's Clock, Volume 1, 1851, page 130,

     “Wy, mum,” said Mr. Weller, “I don?t think you?ll see a many sich, and that?s the truth. But if my son Samivel vould give me my vay, mum, and dis-pense with his—might I wenter to say the vurd?”

     “What word Mr Weller?” said the housekeeper, blushing slightly.

     “Petticuts, mum,” returned that gentleman, laying his had upon the garments of his grandson. “If my son Samivel vould only dis-pense vith these here, you?d see sich a alteration in his appearance, as the imagination can?t depicter!”

   • 1885, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 2011, unnumbered page,

     Then she took off the hank and looked me straight in the face, and very pleasant, and says:

     “Come, now, what?s your real name?

     “Wh — what, mum?”

     “What?s your real name? Is it Bill, or Tom, or Bob? — Or what is it?”

Usage notes

Mum is only capitalized when used as a proper noun:

• I don't think Mum will like you.
• I don't think my mum will like you.
• In New England, the word may still be spelt "mom", but it will have the pronunciation of "mum".

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:mother

Translations

Etymology 2

Abbreviation of chrysanthemum.

Noun

mum (plural mums)

1. A chrysanthemum.

Etymology 3

From Middle English mum or mom (“silent”), reminiscent of the sound made when gagged or with a hand over one's mouth. Perhaps related to dated German Mumme (“mask”).

Alternative forms

• (verb): mumm (archaic)

Adjective

mum (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) Silent.
2. (colloquial) Secret.

Derived terms

• keep mum
• mum's the word

Interjection

mum!

1. stop speaking!, stop talking!, hush!

Verb

mum (third-person singular simple present mums, present participle mumming, simple past and past participle mummed)

1. To act in a pantomime or dumb show.

Noun

mum (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) silence

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Hudibras to this entry?)

Etymology 4

German Mumme, named after Christian Mumme, who first brewed it in 1492.

Noun

mum (uncountable)

1. A type of strong beer, originally made in Brunswick, Germany.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)

Anagrams

• MMU, umm

Abinomn

Noun

mum

1. eeltail catfish

Forak

Noun

mum

1. breast

Further reading

• John Carter, Katie Carter, John Grummitt, Bonnie MacKenzie, Janell Masters, A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Mur Village Vernaculars (2012)

Turkish

Etymology

From Persian ???? (mum).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mum/

Noun

mum (definite accusative mumu, plural mumlar)

1. candle

Declension

Derived terms

• mumluk

Zazaki

Noun

mum

1. candle