Etymology

dumbness

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Today it means: The state of being mute: that is, of not communicating vocally, whether from selective mutism (refusal to speak) or from an inability to speak. Full definition →

Middle English dombenesse ← Old English dumbnes
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromdumbnes
  2. Middle English · inherited fromdombenesse
  3. English todaydumbness

From Middle English dombenesse, from Old English dumbnes; equivalent to dumb + -ness. Cognate with Old Frisian dumbnisse (“folly, dumbness”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.