Link Centre Dictionary

silent

si·lent

UK/ˈsaɪ̯lənt/ US/ˈsaɪ̯lənt] ~ [ˈsaɪ̯ln̩t/ common

adjective

1.

marked by absence of sound

  • “a silent house”
  • “soundless footsteps on the grass”
  • “the night was still”
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2.

failing to speak or communicate etc when expected to

  • “the witness remained silent”
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3.

indicated by necessary connotation though not expressed directly

  • “gave silent consent”
  • “a tacit agreement”
  • “the understood provisos of a custody agreement”
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4.

not made to sound

  • “the silent”
  • “at the beginning of”
  • “";”
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5.

having a frequency below or above the range of human audibility

  • “a silent dog whistle”
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6.

unable to speak because of hereditary deafness

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Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • be silent
  • fall silent
  • on silent
  • radio silent
  • right to remain silent
  • silent agitator
  • silent alarm
  • silent as a grave

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.