silence
Contents
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old French silence, from Latin silentium (“silence”).
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsaɪ.ləns/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsaɪ.ləns/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -aɪləns
NounEdit
silence (usually uncountable, plural silences)
- The lack of any sound.
- When the motor stopped, the silence was almost deafening.
- The act of refraining from speaking.
- "You have the right to silence," said the police officer.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
- Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.
- D. Webster
- The administration itself keeps a profound silence.
- Form of meditative worship practiced by the Society of Friends (Quakers); meeting for worship.
- During silence a message came to me that there was that of God in every person.
SynonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
Terms derived from silence (noun)
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
lack of any sound
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not speaking as meditation or prayer
right to not speak during arrest
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VerbEdit
silence (third-person singular simple present silences, present participle silencing, simple past and past participle silenced)
- (transitive) To make (someone or something) silent.
- Can you silence the crowd, so we can start the show?
- (transitive) To repress the expression of something.
- Women, as well as children, have their thoughts or emotions routinely silenced.
- (transitive) To suppress criticism, etc.
- Silence the critics.
- Silence the doubters.
- 2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”, in The Guardian[1]:
- A state ideology, mixing nationalism, and basic Marxist economics, going under the name "Juche", was constructed, and Kim Il-sung effectively silenced, disposed of and cleared away any opposition, isolating the country and exercising an iron grip on the military, the state media and the government and party organs.
- (molecular biology) To block gene expression.
- (euphemistic) murder
- 2013, Mark Shaw, The Poison Patriarch: How the Betrayals of Joseph P. Kennedy Caused the Assassination of JFK, →ISBN, page 150:
- They, and others through the years, believed Ruby must have acted on his own since there was no logic to the supposition that anyone could trust an uncontrollable, unreliable loudmouth like Ruby to silence Oswald.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
to make something silent
to suppress criticism
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See alsoEdit
InterjectionEdit
silence
- (imperative) Be silent.
- Silence! Enough of your insolence!
- 2007 September 17, Jeff Dunham as Achmed the Dead Terrorist, Spark of Insanity[2]:
- (in response to laughter from the audience)
Silence! I kill you!
- (in response to laughter from the audience)
SynonymsEdit
TranslationsEdit
be silent
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AnagramsEdit
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
silence m (plural silences)
AntonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “silence” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).