mumchance
English
Etymology
From Middle English mommen (“mutter, be silent”) and Middle High German mummenschantze (“game of chance as part of a masquerade, mime performance, revel”), from Old French momen (“mask”) and cheance (“game of chance”)
Adjective
mumchance (comparative more mumchance, superlative most mumchance)
- Mute, or not speaking; silent.
- 1966, Paul Scott, The Jewel in the Crown, p. 69
- I wrote Miss Crane off as mediocre because although she chatted quite pleasantly and intelligently over coffee she was mostly mumpchance at the dinner table. Oh, not mumpchance tout court.
- 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 446:
- The two little children stood mumchance, but with a kindly air.
- 1966, Paul Scott, The Jewel in the Crown, p. 69