Mūte1, a.
a. [Lat. mutus, It. muto, Sp. mudo, Pr. mut, O. Fr. mut, mu, N. Fr. muet.]
Sense 1. Restrained from speaking; kept in silence; uttering no sound; silent.
All the heavenly choir stood mute. Milton.
Sense 2. Incapable of speaking; dumb.
To the mute My speech is lost; my reason to the brute. Dryden.
Sense 3. Not uttered; unpronounced; silent; also, produced by complete closure of the mouth-organs; entirely interrupting the passage of breath;—said of certain letters.
☞ In law a prisoner is said to stand mute, when, upon being arraigned, he either makes no answer, or does not plead directly, or will not put himself on trial.
Synonyms—Silent; dumb; speechless.—MUTE, SILENT, DUMB. One is silent who does not speak; one is dumb who can not, for want of the proper organs; as, a dumb beast, &c.; and hence, figuratively, we speak of a person as struck dumb with astonishment, &c. One is mute who is held back from speaking by some special cause; as, he was mute through fear, mute astonishment, &c. Such is the case with most of those who never speak from childhood; they are not ordinarily dumb, but mute because they are deaf, and therefore never learn to talk; and hence their more appropriate name is deaf-mutes.
Silent and in face Confounded, long they sat as stricken mute. Milton.
They speak not a word! But like dumb statues, or unbreathing stones, Stared each on other. Shak.
They sung no more, or only sung his fame: Struck dumb, they all admired the godlike man. Dryden.
All sat mute, Pondering the danger with deep thoughts. Milton.