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Webster 1913 Edition


Silent

Si′lent

,
Adj.
[L.
silens
,
-entis
, p. pr. of
silere
to be silent; akin to Goth. ana-silan.]
1.
Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.
How
silent
is this town!
Shakespeare
2.
Not speaking; indisposed to talk; speechless; mute; taciturn; not loquacious; not talkative.
Ulysses, adds he, was the most eloquent and most
silent
of men.
Broome.
This new-created world, whereof in hell
Fame is not
silent
.
Milton.
3.
Keeping at rest; inactive; calm; undisturbed;
as, the wind is
silent
.
Parnell. Sir W. Raleigh.
4.
(Pron.)
Not pronounced; having no sound; quiescent;
as, e is
silent
in “fable.”
5.
Having no effect; not operating; inefficient.
[R.]
Cause . . .
silent
, virtueless, and dead.
Sir W. Raleigh.
Silent partner
.
See
Dormant partner
, under
Dormant
.
Syn. – Mute; taciturn; dumb; speechless; quiet; still. See
Mute
, and
Taciturn
.

Si′lent

,
Noun.
That which is silent; a time of silence.
[R.]
“The silent of the night.”
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition


Silent

SI'LENT

,
Adj.
1.
Not speaking; mute. Ps. 22.
2.
Habitually taciturn; speaking little; not inclined to much talking; not loquacious. Ulysses, he adds was the most eloquent and most silent of men.
3.
Still; having not noise; as the silent watches of the night; the silent groves; all was silent.
4.
Not operative; wanting efficacy.
5.
Not mentioning; not proclaiming. This new created world, of which in hell Fame is not silent.
6.
Calm; as, the winds were silent.
7.
Not acting; not transacting business in person; as a silent partner in a commercial house.
8.
Hot pronounced; having no sound; as, e is silent in fable.

Definition 2024


silent

silent

See also: SILENT

English

Alternative forms

  • scilent (hyper‐correct, obsolete)

Adjective

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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 **** / Fame is not silent.
  3. 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?)
  4. (pronunciation) Not pronounced; having no sound; quiescent.
    The e is silent in fable.
  5. Having no effect; not operating; inefficient.
    • Sir Walter Raleigh
      Cause [] silent, virtueless, and dead.
  6. (technology) Without audio capability.
    The Magnavox Odyssey was a silent console.
  7. Hidden, unseen.
    a silent voter; a silent partner
  8. Not implying significant modifications which would affect a peptide sequence.
  9. Undiagnosed or undetected because of an absence of symptoms.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

silent (plural silents)

  1. (uncountable) That which is silent; a time of silence.
  2. A silent movie
    • 2007 August 12, Woody Allen, “The Man Who Asked Hard Questions”, in New York Times:
      All kinds, silents and talkies.

Translations

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: difficult · top · tone · #803: silent · takes · honour · individual

Anagrams


French

Verb

silent

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

Anagrams


Latin

Verb

silent

  1. third-person plural present active indicative of sileō