mute

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
mute /mjuːt/

▶adjective

• 1 (of a person) refraining from speech or temporarily speechless.

  ■ lacking the faculty of speech.

  ■ (of hounds) not giving tongue while hunting.

• 2 (of a letter) not pronounced.

▶noun

• 1 a person without the power of speech.

  ■ historical (in some Asian countries) a servant who was deprived of the power of speech.

• 2 historical a professional attendant or mourner at a funeral.

• 3 a clamp placed over the bridge of a stringed instrument to deaden the resonance without affecting the vibration of the strings.

• 4 a pad or cone placed in the opening of a brass or other wind instrument.

▶verb

• 1 deaden or muffle the sound of.

• 2 reduce the strength or intensity of.

  ■ (as adj. muted) (of colour or lighting) not bright; subdued.

– derivatives
mutely adverb,
muteness noun.

– origin ME: from OFr. muet, dimin. of mu, from L. mutus.

usage: To describe a person without the power of speech as mute is today likely to cause offence. Nevertheless, there are no accepted alternative terms in general use, apart from the possibly imprecise term speech-impaired. See also usage at deaf mute.