mute

mute · adjective, noun, verb¹

1. Latin · derived frommūtus
2. Middle French · derived frommuet
3. Anglo-Norman · derived frommuet
4. Middle English · inherited frommuet
5. English todaymute

From Middle English muet, from Anglo-Norman muet, moet, Middle French muet, from mu (“dumb, mute”) + -et, remodelled after Latin mūtus.

mute · verb, noun²

1. Middle French · derived frommuetir
2. English todaymute

From Middle French muetir, probably a shortened form of esmeutir, ultimately from Proto-Germanic.

mute · verb³

1. Latin · derived frommutare“to change”
2. English todaymute

From Latin mutare (“to change”).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 15th c. Not having the power of speech; dumb.
• from 15th c. Silent; not making a sound.
• from 16th c. A stopped consonant; a stop.
• 16th–19th c. An actor who does not speak; a mime performer.
• from 17th c. A person who does not have the power of speech.
• from 18th c. A hired mourner at a funeral; an undertaker's assistant.
• from 18th c. An object for dulling the sound of an instrument, especially a brass instrument, or damper for pianoforte; a sordine.
• from 15th c. Of a bird: to defecate.