silent
See also: SILENT
Contents
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- scilent (hyper‐correct, obsolete)
EtymologyEdit
From Latin silēnt-, silēns (“silent”), present participle of sileō (“be silent”), from Proto-Indo-European *seil- (“still, windless, quiet, slow”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌽 (anasilan, “to cease, grow still, be silent”), Old English sālnes (“silence”).
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
silent (comparative silenter or more silent, superlative silentest or most silent)
- Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.
- 1604, William Shakespeare, Othello, act 5, scene 1:
- How silent is this town!
- 1825, Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy, The Works of Samuel Johnson, Talboys and Wheeler, page 52:
- What was formerly performed by fleets and armies, by invasions, sieges, and battles, has been of late accomplished by more silent methods.
- 1906, William Dean Howells and Sidney Dillon Ripley, Certain Delightful English Towns: With Glimpses of the Pleasant Country Between, Harper & Brothers, page 152:
- The voice of the auctioneer is slow and low […] ; after a pause, which seems no silenter than the rest of the transaction, he ceases to repeat the bids, and his fish, in the measure of a bushel or so, have gone for a matter of three shillings.
- 1604, William Shakespeare, Othello, act 5, scene 1:
- Not speaking; indisposed to talk; speechless; mute; taciturn; not loquacious; not talkative.
- Broome
- Ulysses, adds he, was the most eloquent and most silent of men.
- Milton
- This new-created world, whereof in hell / Fame is not silent.
- Broome
- Keeping at rest; inactive; calm; undisturbed.
- The wind is silent.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Parnell to this entry?)
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Walter Raleigh to this entry?)
- (pronunciation) Not pronounced; having no sound; quiescent.
- The e is silent in fable.
- Having no effect; not operating; inefficient.
- Sir Walter Raleigh
- Cause […] silent, virtueless, and dead.
- Sir Walter Raleigh
- (technology) Without audio capability.
- The Magnavox Odyssey was a silent console.
- Hidden, unseen.
- a silent voter; a silent partner
- Of an edit or change to a text, not explicitly acknowledged.
- silent revisions; a silent emendation
- Not implying significant modifications which would affect a peptide sequence.
- Undiagnosed or undetected because of an absence of symptoms.
SynonymsEdit
- See also Wikisaurus:silent
- dumb, mute, quiet, speechless, still, taciturn
Derived termsEdit
Terms derived from silent
TranslationsEdit
free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet
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not speaking; indisposed to talk; speechless; mute; taciturn
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keeping at rest; inactive; calm; undisturbed
not pronounced; having no sound; quiescent
having no effect; not operating; inefficient
without audio capability
not implying significant modifications which would affect a peptide sequence
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undiagnosed or undetected because of an absence of symptoms
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to refrain from speaking — see be silent
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
NounEdit
silent (plural silents)
- (uncountable) That which is silent; a time of silence.
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- The silent of the night. Shakespeare
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- A silent movie
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2007 August 12, Woody Allen, “The Man Who Asked Hard Questions”, in New York Times[1]:
- All kinds, silents and talkies.
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TranslationsEdit
that which is silent
StatisticsEdit
Most common English words before 1923 in Project Gutenberg: difficult · top · tone · #803: silent · takes · honour · individual
Further readingEdit
- silent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- silent in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- silent at OneLook Dictionary Search