silent

English

Alternative forms

• scilent (hypercorrect, obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin silēns (“silent”), present participle of sileō (“be silent”), from Proto-Indo-European *seyl- (“still, windless, quiet, slow”). Related to Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌽 (anasilan, “to cease, grow still, be silent”), Old English sālnes (“silence”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaɪlənt/
• Rhymes: -aɪlənt

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

silent (comparative silenter or more silent, superlative silentest or most silent)

1. Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.
   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     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, 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.

2. Not speaking; indisposed to talk; speechless; mute; taciturn; not loquacious; not talkative.
   • 1725–1726, Homer, “(please specify the book or chapter of the Odyssey)”, in [William Broome, Elijah Fenton, and Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. , London: Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:

     Ulysses, adds he, was the most eloquent and most silent of men.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC:

     This new-created world, whereof in hell / Fame is not silent.

   • 1960, John Updike, 'Rabbit, Run', page 38:

     Tothero is silent before replying. His great strength is in these silences; he has the disciplinarian's trick of waiting a long moment while his words gather weight.

3. Keeping at rest; inactive; calm; undisturbed.
   • a. 1718, Thomas Parnell, Hesiod; or, the Rise of Woman:

     The winds were silent, all the waves asleep, / And heaven was trac'd upon the flattering deep

4. (pronunciation) Not pronounced; having no sound; quiescent.

   The e is silent in fable.

   Silent letters can make some words difficult to spell.

   The “l” in the English word "salmon" is silent.

5. Having no effect; not operating; inefficient.
   • 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World , London: William Stansby for Walter Burre, , →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):

     Cause […] silent, virtueless, and dead.

6. (technology) With the sound turned off; usually on silent or in silent mode.

   My phone was on silent.

7. (technology) Without audio capability.

   The Magnavox Odyssey was a silent console.

8. Hidden, unseen.

   a silent voter; a silent partner

9. Of an edit or change to a text, not explicitly acknowledged.

   silent revisions; a silent emendation

   • 2018, James Lambert, “Setting the Record Straight: An In-depth Examination of Hobson-Jobson”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 31, number 4, →DOI, page 496:

     [T]he use of both acknowledged and unacknowledged (silent) translations of non-English sources makes it difficult for users to determine if a certain term genuinely appeared in an English-language text.

10. (genetics) Not implying significant modifications which would affect a peptide sequence.
11. Undiagnosed or undetected because of an absence of symptoms.
12. Of distilled spirit: having no flavour or odour.

Synonyms

• (free from sound or noise): quiet; see also Thesaurus:silent
• (not speaking; indisposed to talk): speechless, taciturn; see also Thesaurus:taciturn
• (not speaking; mute): dumb, mute; see also Thesaurus:mute
• (keeping at rest): dormant, still; see also Thesaurus:inactive
• (not pronounced): mute, quiescent, servile
• (hidden; unseen): concealed, invisible, occluded; see also Thesaurus:hidden

Derived terms

Related terms

• silence
• silentiary
• silentious

Translations

Noun

silent (plural silents)

1. (uncountable) That which is silent; a time of silence.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies.  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night.

2. A silent movie
   • 1978 April 22, “The Celluloid Closet”, in Gay Community News, page 2:

     More than 40 films will be shown spanning the past seventy-five years, including early silents and talkies, contemporary productions, foreign and American films, documentaries, underground works and television shows.

Translations

Further reading

• “silent”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “silent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “silent”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• ELINTs, Teslin, enlist, inlets, leints, lets in, listen, tinsel

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencian)

Adjective

silent m or f (masculine and feminine plural silents)

1. silent

   Synonym: silenciós

French

Verb

silent

1. third-person plural present indicative/subjunctive of siler

Anagrams

• lisent

Latin

Verb

silent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of sileō