different between open vs silly

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ?'p?n, IPA^(key): /???.p?n/
• (US) enPR: ?'p?n, IPA^(key): /?o?.p?n/
• Rhymes: -??p?n

Etymology 1

From Middle English open, from Old English open (“open”), from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“up from under, over”). Cognate with Scots apen (“open”), Saterland Frisian eepen (“open”), West Frisian iepen (“open”), Dutch open (“open”), Low German open, apen (“open”), German offen (“open”), Danish åben (“open”), Swedish öppen (“open”), Norwegian Bokmål åpen (“open”), Norwegian Nynorsk open (“open”), Icelandic opinn (“open”). Compare also Latin supinus (“on one's back, supine”), Albanian hap (“to open”). Related to up.

Adjective

open (comparative more open, superlative most open)

1. (not comparable) Not closed
   1. able to be accessed
   2. able to have something pass through or along it.
      • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, Chapter 2

        The open road, the dusty highway […]

   3. (of a body part) not covered, showing what is inside

2. Not physically drawn together, closed, folded or contracted; extended

   • Each, with open arms, embraced her chosen knight.

3. (not comparable) Actively conducting or prepared to conduct business.
4. (comparable) Receptive.
5. (not comparable) Public
6. (not comparable) Candid, ingenuous, not subtle in character.
   • 1731-1735, Alexander Pope, Moral Essays

     with aspect open, shall erect his head

   • The French are always open, familiar, and talkative.

7. (mathematics, logic, of a formula) Having a free variable.
8. (mathematics, topology, of a set) Which is part of a predefined collection of subsets of ${\displaystyle X}$, that defines a topological space on ${\displaystyle X}$.
9. (graph theory, of a walk) Whose first and last vertices are different.
10. (computing, not comparable, of a file, document, etc.) In current use; mapped to part of memory.

11. (business) Not fulfilled.

12. Not settled or adjusted; not decided or determined; not closed or withdrawn from consideration.

13. (music, stringed instruments) Of a note, played without pressing the string against the fingerboard.
14. (music, wind instruments) Of a note, played without closing any finger-hole, key or valve.
15. Not of a quality to prevent communication, as by closing waterways, blocking roads, etc.; hence, not frosty or inclement; mild; used of the weather or the climate.

16. (law, of correspondence) Written or sent with the intention that it may made public or referred to at any trial, rather than by way of confidential private negotiation for a settlement.

17. (phonetics) Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; said of vowels.
18. (phonetics) Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral passage simply narrowed without closure.
19. (phonetics, of a syllable) That ends in a vowel; not having a coda.
20. (computing, education) Made public, usable with a free licence and without proprietary components.
21. (medicine) Resulting from an incision, puncture or any other process by which the skin no longer protects an internal part of the body.
22. (computing, used before "code") Source code of a computer program that is not within the text of a macro being generated.

Synonyms

• (not closed): accessible, unimpeded
• (ending in a vowel): free
• (with a free license and no proprietary components): free

Antonyms

• (accessible): closed, shut
• (law): without prejudice
• (ending in a vowel): closed, checked
• (with a free license and no proprietary components): closed-source, proprietary

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English openen, from Old English openian (“to open”), from Proto-Germanic *upan?n? (“to raise; lift; open”), from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”, adjective). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eepenje (“to open”), West Frisian iepenje (“to open”), Dutch openen (“to open”), German öffnen (“to open”), Danish åbne (“to open”), Swedish öppna (“to open”), Norwegian Bokmål åpne (“to open”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic opna (“to open”). Related to English up.

Verb

open (third-person singular simple present opens, present participle opening, simple past and past participle opened)

1. (transitive) To make something accessible or allow for passage by moving from a shut position.

2. (transitive) To make (an open space, etc.) by clearing away an obstacle or obstacles, in order to allow for passage, access, or visibility.

3. (transitive) To bring up, broach.

4. (transitive) To enter upon, begin.

5. (transitive) To spread; to expand into an open or loose position.

6. (transitive) To make accessible to customers or clients.

7. (transitive) To start (a campaign).

8. (intransitive) To become open.

9. (intransitive) To begin conducting business.

10. (intransitive, cricket) To begin a side's innings as one of the first two batsmen.
11. (intransitive, poker) To bet before any other player has in a particular betting round in a game of poker.

12. (transitive, intransitive, poker) To reveal one's hand.

13. (computing, transitive, intransitive, of a file, document, etc.) To load into memory for viewing or editing.
14. (obsolete) To disclose; to reveal; to interpret; to explain.
    • 1622, Francis Bacon, The History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh

      The king opened himself to some of his council, that he was sorry for the earl's death.

Synonyms

• (to make accessible): unseal
• (to bring up): raise
• (to enter upon): start; see also Thesaurus:begin
• (to disclose): bare; see also Thesaurus:reveal

Hyponyms

• (to make accessible): crack (open a bit)

Antonyms

• (to make accessible): bare, shut

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English open (“an aperture or opening”), from the verb (see Etymology 2 above). In the sports sense, however, a shortening of “open competition”.

Noun

open (plural opens)

1. (with the) Open or unobstructed space; an exposed location.

2. (with the) Public knowledge or scrutiny; full view.

3. (electronics) A defect in an electrical circuit preventing current from flowing.

4. A sports event in which anybody can compete

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Nope, nope, peno-, peon, pone

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch openen, from Middle Dutch ?penen, from Old Dutch opanon, from Proto-Germanic *upan?n?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /????.p?n/

Verb

open (present open, present participle openende, past participle geopen)

1. (transitive) to open

Related terms

• oop

Catalan

Etymology

From English open.

Noun

open m (plural open or òpens)

1. (sports) open

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?o?.p?(n)/
• Hyphenation: open
• Rhymes: -o?p?n

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch ?pen, from Old Dutch opan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz.

Adjective

open (comparative opener, superlative openst)

1. open, not closed

   Antonyms: gesloten, dicht, toe

2. open for business

   Antonyms: gesloten, dicht

3. open, receptive

   Antonym: gesloten

Inflection

Antonyms

• gesloten

Derived terms

• openbaar
• openbaren
• openen
• opener
• opening
• openlijk

Descendants

• Afrikaans: oop

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

open

1. first-person singular present indicative of openen
2. imperative of openen

Anagrams

• nope

Finnish

Noun

open

1. genitive singular of ope

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English open.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?.p?n/

Noun

open m (plural opens)

1. open; open tournament

Further reading

• “open” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch opan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz.

Adjective

?pen

1. open, not closed
2. open, accessible
3. freely accessible, public

Inflection

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• ?penen

Descendants

• Dutch: open
  • Afrikaans: oop
• Limburgish: aop

Further reading

• “open”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “open (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN, page II

Middle English

Alternative forms

• opyn, ope

Etymology

From Old English open, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz.

Adjective

open (comparative more open, superlative most open)

1. open
   • 14th c. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales. General Prologue: 9-11.

     And smale foweles maken melodye,

     That slepen al the nyght with open eye-

     (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);

     And many little birds make melody

     That sleep through all the night with open eye

     (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)

Related terms

• open-ers
• openly

Descendants

• English: open (obsolete ope)
• Scots: appen, apen

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse opinn, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz. Compare Danish åben, Icelandic opinn, Swedish öppen, Dutch open, Low German apen, open, German offen, West Frisian iepen, English open.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²o?p?n/

Adjective

open (masculine and feminine open, neuter ope or opent, definite singular and plural opne, comparative opnare, indefinite superlative opnast, definite superlative opnaste)

1. open

Related terms

• opna, opne

See also

• åpen (Bokmål)

References

• “open” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *upanaz. Originally a past participle of Proto-Germanic *?pan? (“to lift up, open”). Akin to Old English ?p (“up”). Cognate with Old Frisian open, opin, epen (West Frisian iepen), Old Saxon opan, open (Low German apen, open), Dutch open, Old High German offan, ofan, ophan (German offen), Old Norse opinn (Danish åben, Norwegian open, Swedish öppen).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?o.pen/

Adjective

open

1. open

Declension

Derived terms

• openl??

Descendants

• Middle English: open, opyn, ope
  • Scots: appen, apen
  • English: open

Plautdietsch

Adjective

open

1. open

Spanish

Etymology

From English open.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?open/, [?o.p?n]

Noun

open m (plural opens or open)

1. (sports) open

English

Etymology

From Middle English seely, s?l?, from Old English s?li?, ?es?li? (“blessed; fortunate”), from Proto-West Germanic *s?l?g (“blissful, happy”), from *s?li (“happy, fortunate”). Equivalent to seel (“happiness, bliss”) +? -y. Doublet of Seelie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?li/
• Rhymes: -?li
• Homophone: Scilly

Adjective

silly (comparative sillier, superlative silliest)

1. Laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance.
   • 1600, William Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V, Scene i, line 209:

     This is the silliest stuffe, that euer I heard.

   • 1970, Graham Chapman & al., Monty Python's Flying Circus, I, 183:

     Well sir, I have a silly walk and I'd like to obtain a Government grant to help me develop it.

   1. (of numbers, particularly prices) Absurdly large.
      • 1875 June 26, Saturday Review, 815/2:

        He cannot achieve celebrity by covering himself with diamonds... or by giving a silly price for a hack.

2. (chiefly Scotland, obsolete) Blessed, particularly:
   1. Good; pious.
      • a. 1450, Seven Sages, line 1361:

        The sylyman lay and herde,
        And hys wyf answerd.

   2. Holy.
      • 1650 in 1885, W. Cramond, Church of Rathven, 21:

        ... thrie Saturdayes befor Lambas and thrie efter called the six silie Saturdayes.

3. (now chiefly Scotland and Northern England, rare) Pitiful, inspiring compassion, particularly:
   • 1556 in 1880, William Henry Turner, Selections from the Records of the City of Oxford... 1509–83, 246:

     The fire raging upon the silly Carcase.
   1. (now literary) Innocent; suffering undeservedly, especially as an epithet of lambs and sheep.
      • a. 1475, in 1925, Rossell Hope Robbins, Secular Lyrics of the 14th & 15th Centuries, 109:

        There is no best in þe word, I wene...
        That suffuris halfe so myche tene
        As doth þe sylly wat.

      • a. 1513, William Dunbar, Poems, 247:

        In the silly lambis skin He crap als far as he micht win.

   2. (now literary) Helpless, defenseless.

      scared silly

      • 1539, Richard Morison translating Juan Luis Vives, Introduction to Wysedome:

        Wherfore Christe must soo moche the more instantelye be sought vpon, that he may vouchsafe to defende vs sylly wretches.

      • 1665, Thomas Manley translating Hugo Grotius, De Rebus Belgicis, 938:

        There remained fresh Examples of their Barbarism against weak Sea-men, and silly Fisher-men.

   3. Insignificant, worthless, (chiefly Scotland) especially with regard to land quality.
      • a. 1500, Robert Henryson translating Aesop, "Two Mice":

        Ane sillie scheill vnder ane erdfast stane

      • 1595, William Shakespeare, The third Part of King Henry the Sixt, vvith the death of the Duke of Yorke, Act III, Scene iii, line 93:

        ...A pettigree
        Of threescore and two yeares a sillie time,
        To make prescription for a kingdomes worth.

      • 1907, Transactions of the Highland & Agricultural Society, 19, 172:

        It is naturally very poor, ‘silly’ land.

   4. Weak, frail; flimsy (use concerning people and animals is now obsolete).
      • 1567, John Maplet, A Greene Forest:

        Here we see that a smal sillie Bird knoweth how to match with so great a Beast.

      • 1587, Philip Sidney & al. translating Philippe de Mornay, A Woorke Concerning the Trewnesse of the Christian Religion, xxxii, 596:

        [Christ] leaueth neither Children nor kinsfolke behind him to vphold his sillie kingdome.

      • 1946 in 1971, Scottish National Dictionary, Vol. VIII, 234/3:

        That'll never grow. It's ower silly.

   5. Sickly; feeble; infirm.
      • 1636, Alexander Montgomerie, The Cherrie & the Slae, line 1512:

        To doe the thing we can
        To please...
        This silly sickly man.

      • 1818, Walter Scott, "Heart of Mid-Lothian", v:

        Is there ony thing you would particularly fancy, as your health seems but silly?

4. (now rural Britain, rare) Simple, plain, particularly:
   1. Rustic, homely.
      • 1570, John Foxe, Actes & Monumentes, Vol. II, 926/1:

        Dauid had no more but a sylie slynge, and a few stones.

   2. (obsolete) Lowly, of humble station.
      • a. 1547, the Earl of Surrey translating Publius Virgilius Maro, Certain Bokes of Virgiles Aeneis, Book II:

        The silly herdman all astonnied standes.

      • 1568, Alexander Scott, Poems, 27:

        So luvaris lair no leid suld lak,
        A lord to lufe a silly lass.

5. Mentally simple, foolish, particularly:
   1. (obsolete) Rustic, uneducated, unlearned.
      • 1687, Archibald Lovell translating Jean de Thévenot, The Travels of Monsieur de Thevenot into the Levant, i, 2:

        From Hell (of which the silly people of the Country think the top of this hill to be the mouth).

   2. Thoughtless, lacking judgment.
      • 1576, Abraham Fleming translating Sulpicius, A Panoplie of Epistles, 24:

        Wee sillie soules, take the matter too too heauily.

      • 1841, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, iii, 252:

        ‘Heaven help this silly fellow,’ murmured the perplexed locksmith.

      • 1972, George Lucas & al., American Graffiti, 8:

        Steve, don't be silly. I mean social intercourse.

      • 1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 3:

        Framed? Framed? Oh, grow up, Mattie. The truth is that everyone is sillier than you could possibly imagine they'd be. What a dickhead.

   3. (Scotland) Mentally retarded.
      • 1568, Christis Kirk on Grene:

        Fow ?ellow ?ellow wes hir heid bot scho of lufe wes sillie.

      • 1814, Walter Scott, Waverley, III, xvi, 237:

        Davie's no just like other folk... but he's no sae silly as folk tak him for.

   4. Stupefied, senseless; stunned or dazed.
      • 1829 January 17, Lancaster Gazette:

        You say you were knocked silly—was that so?

      • 1907, John Millington Synge, Playboy of the Western World, iii, 64:

        Drinking myself silly...

      • 1942, J. Chodorov & al., Junior Miss, ii, i, 113:

        Well, Judy, now that you've scared me silly, what's so important?

      • 1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 2:

        I can kick this stuff any time I like. I tell you what. Get this week over, we'll go to a health farm for ten days. No drugs. No drink. And shag ourselves silly. How about that?

6. (cricket, of a fielding position) Very close to the batsman, facing the bowler; closer than short.
   • 1862 July 4, Notts. Guardian:

     Carpenter now placed himself at silly-point for Grundy, who was playing very forward.

Usage notes

Silly is usually taken to imply a less serious degree of foolishness, mental impairment, or hilarity than its synonyms.

The sense meaning stupefied is usually restricted to times when silly is used as a verb complement, denoting that the action is done so severely or repetitively that it leaves one senseless.

Synonyms

• (playful): charming
• Also see Thesaurus:foolish

Antonyms

• (playful): pious

Derived terms

• (adverb): sillily, silly
• silliness
• silly season

Translations

Adverb

silly (comparative sillier, superlative silliest)

1. (now regional or colloquial) Sillily: in a silly manner.
   • 1731, Colley Cibber, Careless Husband, 7th ed., i, i, 21:

     If you did but see how silly a Man fumbles for an Excuse, when he's a little asham'd of being in Love.

Noun

silly (plural sillies)

1. (colloquial) A silly person.
   • 1807 May, Scots Magazine, 366/1:

     While they, poor sillies, bid good night,
     O' love an' bogles eerie.

2. (endearing, gently derogatory) A term of address.
   • 1918 September, St. Nicholas, 972/2:

     ‘Come on, silly,’ said Nannie.

3. (colloquial) A mistake.

Translations

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, ""silly, adj., n., and adv.", 2013.

Anagrams

• silyl, slily, yills