silentadj.n.

Brit.

/ˈsʌɪlənt/,

/ˈsʌɪln̩t/, U.S.

/ˈsaɪlənt/

Forms: late Middle English–1500s scylent, late Middle English– silent, 1500s sylente, 1500s–1600s scilent, 1500s–1600s silente, 1500s–1600s scilente, 1500s–1600s sylent.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin silent-, silēns.

Etymology: < classical Latin silent-, silēns making no sound, marked by absence of sound, (of the moon) not shining, use as adjective of the present participle of silēre to be silent, probably < the same Indo-European base as Gothic silan (in an isolated attestation in the prefixed verb anasilan to become quiet) and Old English sāl- (in sālnes silence).Compare Middle French, French silent (end of the 15th cent.; now rare), Italian silente (1511; now literary); the usual adjectives in French and Italian are respectively silencieux and silenzioso (for both, see silentious adj.).

A. adj.

a. Of a person: keeping or maintaining silence; refraining from or tending to refrain from speech or utterance; unable to speak.Cf. strong silent man n. at strong adj. Compounds 3; strong silent type n. at strong adj. Compounds 3.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective]

unspeakinga1382

speechless1390

mutec1400

dumb1406

silenta1425

peaceablec1425

secretc1440

of few wordsa1500

tongue-tied1529

mum1532

closec1540

strait-laced1546

tongue-dumb1556

incommunicable1568

sparing1568

inconversable1577

retentive1599

wordless1604

mumbudget1622

uncommunicable1628

monastica1631

word-bound1644

on (also upon) the reserve1655

strait-mouthed1664

oyster-like1665

incommunicative1670

mumchance1681

speechless1726

taciturnous1727

tongue-tacked1727

monosyllabic1735

silentish1737

untalkative1739

silentious1749

buttoned-up1767

taciturn1771

close as wax1772

untittletattling1779

reticent1825

voiceless1827

say-nothing1838

unremonstrant1841

still1855

unvocal1858

inexpansive186.

short-tongued1864

non-communicating1865

tight-lipped1876

unworded1886

chup1896

tongue-bound1906

shut-mouthed1936

zip-lipped1943

shtum1958

the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > loss or lack of voice > [adjective]

mutec1400

silenta1425

voiceless1535

noteless1826

unvoiceful1872

a1425 (?a1400) Pistle Discrecioun of Stirings (Harl. 674) in Deonise hid Diuinite (1955) 72 (MED) Þou arte silently spekyng & spekingly silent, fastyngly etyng and etyngly fasting.

1588 R. Greene Perimedes sig. Biiii^v Delia by being silent, seemed to consent.

1664 in G. Miege Relation of Three Embassies (1669) 373 Upon so extraordinary occasions..had I an hundred tongues I should be struck silent.

1715 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. i. 430 At awful Distance long they silent stand, Loth to advance, or speak their hard Command.

1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. i. 3 Timidity..which kept him silent, notwithstanding his wish to speak.

1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son l. 505 They were both silent for a time; she weeping.

2014 L. Lalami Moor's Acct. i. 11 This made no sense to me, yet I remained silent.

b. Of an animal: not making any sound; not making its usual sounds or calls. Also (of a species of bird): not having an easily recognizable or distinguishable song (rare).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] > of animals or birds

silent1573

1573 T. Twyne tr. Virgil in T. Phaer & T. Twyne tr. Virgil Whole .xii. Bks. Æneidos xii. sig. Nnij The fearfull keepers [of two mightie Bulles] stand a side, And all the flockinge heard about deepe silent [L. mutum] doth abide, The hefers mumblinge soft do make.

1648 Mercurius Pacificus 2 All the domestick creatures hate, with an inveterate and Vatinian hatred, the crafty Fox, the greedy Wolf, as much as the birds the silent birding Cat.

1677 M. Mackaile Macis Macerata Epistle to Reader §7 Why that Bird [sc. the Cuckow] (being silent all the Winter) doth..disturb the pleasant and concordant chirming of the Lark, and other delicious Birds.

1771 J. R. Forster tr. P. Kalm Trav. N. Amer. II. 172 It seems as if they [sc. bullfrogs] had a captain among them: for when he begins to croak, all the others follow; and when he stops, the others are all silent.

1801 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds Suppl. II. 204 Silent T[anager]... Inhabits the thick woods of Guiana; is a solitary bird:..and by no means endowed with a song.

1832 Ld. Tennyson Œnone in Poems (new ed.) 52 The grasshopper is silent in the grass.

1874 G. F. Berkeley Fact Against Fiction I. iii. 69 The silent hound and the skirting hound adopt their dishonest proceedings from the same source—that of jealousy.

1981 M. P. S. Irwin Birds of Zimbabwe 306 It [sc. the Fan-tailed Cisticola] occurs..with the Crackling Cloud Cisticola C. ayresii, and the Silent Cloud Cisticola C. brunnescens.

2009 O. Gentile Life List i. 15 She took the kids to the nest again and again to see [great horned owl] chicks hatch, fuzzy and white..; grow into fierce, silent hunters; and, finally, fly off to fend for themselves.

c. figurative. Of an abstract or inanimate thing incapable of sound: giving the impression of refraining from speech or sound; impassive, unobtrusive. Also: communicating a message without speech or sound.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] > of things

silent1608

1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear iv. 62 My dutie cannot bee silent, when I thinke your highnesse wrong'd.

1660 R. Allestree Private Devotions in Gentlemans Calling 170 Idleness, though a Crying sin.., hath been the silentest of my guilts.

1759 T. Gray Epit. Tomb-stone in Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 485 Where this silent marble weeps, A friend, a wife, a mother, sleeps.

1779 Mirror No. 61 There is a silent chronicle of past hours in the inanimate things amidst which they have been spent.

1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice I. i. iii. 29 Respect the silent heart of your mother.

1862 Ld. Tennyson Idylls Ded. 16 All narrow jealousies Are silent; and we see him as he moved.

1976 E. M. Brown New Haven 48 The silent facade dominates a complicated intersection.

a. Of an object: making no noise or sound.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [adjective] > silent

coyc1330

stone-still1338

quietc1384

softa1393

peacec1400

swownc1400

tongueless1447

clumc1485

mutec1500

whist1513

silent1542

dead1548

husht1557

whisted1557

whust1558

whisht1570

huisht1576

quiet (also mum, mute, still, etc.) as a mouse (in a cheese)1584

fordead1593

noiseless1608

whisha1612

dumba1616

soundlessa1616

st1655

silentish1737

defta1763

sleeping1785

untoned1807

mousy1812

soughless1851

deathlike1856

whisperless1863

deathly1865

1542 T. Becon Dauids Harpe Ep. Ded. sig. A.vj^v Let all Harpes & other musicall instrumentes be silente & holde theyr peace, whan Dauids harpe entreth & commeth in place.

1737 R. Challoner Catholick Christian Instructed xxiii. 220 From..this Day,..our Bells are silent throughout the Catholick Church.

1798 R. W. Miller in Ld. Nelson Dispatches & Lett. (1846) VII. p. clvi The Guerrier and Conquérant..continued for a considerable time to fire..a gun or two, and about 8 o'clock..were totally silent.

1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 17 A piece of turret stair, Worn by the feet that now were silent.

2019 MailOnline 1 Jan. London's Big Ben, silent for much of 2018 due to renovations, chimed once more.

b. Characterized by the absence of sound or noise; not filled with noise or activity; quiet, noiseless, still.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [adjective] > silent > of places or times

stillc1275

quieta1382

silent1559

as silent as the grave1613

cosh1803

soundless1816

voiceless1816

1559 J. Heywood tr. Seneca Troas iii. C.vi^v Two partes of all the sylent nyght, almost then passed weare.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. v. 38 The silent houres steale on, And flakie darkenesse breakes within the east.

1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 14 The nights..whose length is abundantly able..to stirre up our phantasie by a silent quietnesse.

1798 S. T. Coleridge Fears in Solitude 1 A green and silent spot amid the hills! A small and silent dell!

1887 L. Oliphant Episodes iv. 67 It involved..bark-canoeing on distant and silent lakes.

1922 Current Hist. June 444/2 At nightfall electric lights were cut off and the streets were silent, dark and deserted.

2015 @adrimvoyiatt 18 May in twitter.com (accessed 5 Aug. 2019) Is it bad that I love coming home to a silent, empty house?

c. Of a machine, component, or process: operating with or causing minimal noise.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [adjective] > silent > operating silently

silent1846

1846 Sci. Amer. 1 Jan. The cars, and especially the engines, used on this road will be of light construction, the latter being operated by either a rotary, or other silent engine, that it may work without noise.

1931 B. Brown Talking Pictures x. 246 It is evident that gears and such like parts will revolve at high speed with reasonable noise; when slowed down they will be very much more silent.

a1943 H. A. Whitcombe in J. Joyce Trams of Past (1979) 25 The citizens of Birmingham were proud of their steam trams and acclaimed them before all others for their..smooth and silent running.

2011 India Automobile News (Nexis) 28 Oct. BorgWarner recently launched its new silent chain for the balance shaft drive on Hyundai's Theta II four-cylinder gas direct-injection (GDI) and turbo-GDI engines.

a. Characterized or marked by silence or absence of speech; performed, made, experienced, etc., in silence or without speaking.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] > characterized by lack of speech

dumba1538

silent1549

secret1556

wordless1594

mump1599

speechless1726

elinguid1775

1549 T. Chaloner tr. Erasmus Praise of Folie sig. E For bidde ones one of these sages to diner, and either with his silent glommyng [L. tristi silentio], or his darke and eluisshe problemes he will trouble all the bourde.

1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxv. 159 Religion hauing likewise her silent rites.

1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. ix. 204 Princes politickly understanding their mutual secret language (not to say silent signs).

1691 J. Hartcliffe Treat. Virtues 319 His Religion was to be placed in a sober and silent Piety.

1779 Mirror No. 27 That silent and majestic sorrow which commands our reverence and our admiration.

1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. vii. 175 The younger knights told each other with their eyes, in silent correspondence [etc.].

1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. i. 27 She took care that they should be silent tears.

1925 H. J. R. Murray Gen. Rep. Teaching of Eng. in London Elem. Schools 16 The effectiveness of this type of silent reading, as compared with the more usual practice..is obvious.

2014 Z. Nawaz Laughing all Way to Mosque 12 My stomach growled as I mouthed a silent prayer: God, please kill me now.

b. Not mentioned; undisclosed, secret; unrecorded; marked by the absence of any record. Now spec. of a textual correction, omission, etc.: made without an explicit note or marker.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > [adjective] > unrecorded, unmentioned

unremembered1450

unentered1482

silent1564

unrecorded1577

unbooked1587

untolled1591

unregistered1603

unchronicled1610

unminuted1775

recordless1828

unindexed1832

unenrolled1837

uncalendared1850

unfiled1864

unticketed1865

undocumented1883

unlogged1883

de-accessioned1973

1564 J. Stubbs tr. T. de Bèze Hist. Life & Death Caluin sig. C.viij^v I ought not to keepe silent that which is true, and that I doe know.

1616 in Publ. Catholic Rec. Soc. (1906) 3 46 I cannot keep silent the singular pietie & bouldnesse of a certaine woeman.

1812 H. Weber in Wks. of Beaumont & Fletcher II. 55 (footnote) But the silent omission of this word and changing upon in this line to on.., is highly reprehensible.

1863 London Reader 12 Dec. 137/1 Seeking to make amends to her for his silent doubts by throwing into his manner the gravest devotion.

1868 H. H. Milman Ann. St. Paul's Cathedral ii. 28 He was bishop..for ten silent years.

1981 L. S. MacNiven & H. T. Moore Literary Lifelines p. v Silent corrections have been limited to restoring transposed letters.

2003 Catholic Hist. Rev. 89 290 The handling of the evidence is biased, with quotations having both significant and substantial silent omissions.

c. Of a letter: written but not pronounced. Cf. mute adj. 4b, magic e n. at magic adj. Compounds.Sometimes designating a letter whose absence would have no impact on the pronunciation of the word, as b in doubt, and sometimes designating a letter that has a diacritic function, as final e indicating the length of the vowel of a preceding syllable, as in mute or fate.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > loss or lack of voice > [adjective] > silent (of letter)

unsounded1530

unbesound?1533

silent1582

mute1638

1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie xvii. 113 Som vse the same silent e, after r, in the end, as lettre, cedre, childre, and such, where methink it were better to be the flat e, before r, as letter, ceder, childer.

1775 J. Walker Dict. Eng. Lang. sig. 4O^v Persuade, whose final E is silent, and serves only to lengthen the sound of the A in the last syllable.

1881 E. B. Tylor Anthropol. vii. 179 The now silent letters are relics of sounds which used to be really heard in Anglo-Saxon.

2017 Hispania 100 286 The letter ‘h’ is silent in Spanish and is often omitted by those who are not familiar with the spelling of a word.

d. Designating quotation made without acknowledging or crediting the source; (of a quotation): used without indication that it is originally from another source.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary and textual criticism > literary criticism > commentary > [adjective] > without references

silent1831

1831 Christian Advocate 17 Jan. There have been instances..in which we have deemed it proper to show up The Times by silent quotation to public disapproval.

1884 Presbyterian Rev. 5 iii. 262 There is an unbroken series of silent quotations from it.

2006 Slavonic & East European Rev. 84 448 Sometimes, as is only too well known, quotation can be silent, unacknowledged, almost insidious, in its form as plagiarism.

e. Of a film: not accompanied by synchronized recorded sound or dialogue; spec. belonging to a genre of film typical in the early 20th cent. before the invention of talkies, as in silent film, silent movie. Also: of or relating to this film genre. Opposed to talkie n.Silent films commonly used title cards to express dialogue or to explain the plot, and were sometimes accompanied by live music or narration.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > type of film > [adjective] > silent

silent1900

1900 Era 17 Nov. 30/4 (advt.) The phono-bio-tableaux. The Greatest and Most Wonderful Invention ever yet attained in Animated Photography... No longer a Silent Picture.

1918 N.Y. Times 25 Nov. 11/3 (heading) Two opera stars in silent films.

1931 B. Brown Talking Pictures i. 20 Showing talking pictures demanded skill and a degree of knowledge far in advance of what was adequate for the silent screen.

1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? iv. 59 He was married to one of the big silent stars.

1977 R. Barnard Death on High C's ii. 19 In Owen's production..you will be the silent-film heroine, and I will be the silent-film handsome seducer.

2005 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 23 June 12/2 Soon the silent movies..were even more popular than music halls or theater.

a. Refraining from communicating in writing, esp. by neglecting to respond to a letter, message, etc. In later use also: not writing or publishing one’s writing for a period of time.Usually in predicative use, and often with modifier or complement expressing a period of time, as in to be long silent, to have been silent for months, etc.

ΚΠ

a1568 R. Ascham in A. Fleming Panoplie Epist. (1576) 434 I tooke penne in hand, deuising with my selfe, howe I might..haue all my former silence excused... I confesse, that..muche am I to be blamed, for being so long silent.

1688 tr. Diogenes Lives, Opinions & Sayings Anc. Philosophers 296 When several wrote to him consolatory Epistles, he only kept himself silent.

1771 J. Wesley Let. 14 Dec. (1931) V. 292 I have been in doubt whether it was best for me to write or to leave you to your own reflections. But..I cannot be silent any longer without being wanting in affection.

1847 Lect. Eng. Poets iii. 87 Crabbe..was then silent until the year 1807, when he published his Parish Register.

1976 A. J. P. Taylor Let. 17 Dec. in Lett. to Eva (1991) 321 Crispin has been silent for two months... Ghana [is] about the worst place in the world for correspondence.

2019 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 15 May a25 I have since opted to lay low and stay relatively silent on social media.

b. Of a speaker, writer, book, etc.: omitting mention or discussion of a particular issue; offering no account or record. Frequently with about, as to, †in, of, on, †to specifying the issue.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > [adjective] > containing no record

silent1577

1577 M. Hanmer tr. Bp. Eusebius i. vii, in Aunc. Eccl. Hist. 233 These thinges did neyther Eusebius Pamphilus, neyther any other writer once make mention of... I coniecture the selfe same to haue happened vnto such, as herein haue bene silent.

1601 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Trauellers Breuiat 108 For (to be silent [It. per non rammentare] in matters of more ancient memorie) about the yeere of our Lord 1300 [etc.].

a1623 W. Pemble Short Expos. Zachary (1629) 92 Why were they silent of the other fasts, and touch onely vpon this?

1762 S. Foote Orators i. 23 The Court-Register has been silent to the members of common-council.

1813 Morning Chron. 9 Sept. The French may be silent in cases of disaster.

1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) IV. xviii. 224 As to the other shire..history is equally silent.

1917 R. D. Wilson Stud. Bk. of Daniel iv. 81 All the records of Egypt are silent about the third year of Jehoiakim.

1952 Observer 7 Dec. 1/7 The fact that they remained silent in cases involving such serious charges was enough to make the Secretary-General feel justified in dismissing them.

2019 Irish Independent (Nexis) 14 Nov. Company bosses can no longer stay silent on the social pressures facing their customers.

a. Inactive, dormant; not operative.See also silent partner n. at Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > inaction > [adjective]

undiscurrent1509

idlec1522

sleepinga1538

silent1583

unactive1599

passive1604

quiescent1605

torpid1613

quieta1616

inactive1641

actionless1645

slumbering1706

slumberous1809

non-acting1838

supine1843

1583 J. Stockwood tr. J. von Ewich Duetie Magistrate in Time of Plague ii. ii. f. 68^v As in the heate of battaile, and amongst weapon (as is woont to be sayd) lawes are silent or mum.

1592 T. Churchyard Feast Full of Sad Cheere sig. B3 Let sports and pleasures silent be, and name no earthly blis: For heauy harts doe best agree, where death and dollor is.

1745 tr. L. J. M. Columella Of Husbandry iv. xxx. 202 The proper time for setting them is before they bud, while the rods are silent [L. dum silent virgæ].

1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 203 A volcano, after being silent for ages, may suddenly start forth into fresh life.

2010 K. Turner Nat. Birth (e-book ed.) Your womb..is empty, clean, lying silent, ready and waiting, never forgetting what it is meant to do when the time comes.

b. Medicine. Of a disease, disorder, infection, or infectious agent: present but not (yet) producing symptoms or clinical signs; = latent adj. 4. Also: designating an asymptomatic carrier of a disease or infectious agent, and transmission by such carriers.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > symptom > [adjective] > without symptoms

silent1621

occult1651

latent1665

latic1684

symptomless1886

larval1897

non-clinical1913

subclinical1916

asymptomatic1932

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy ii. i. iv. i. 299 Many of them to get a fee, will giue Physick to euery one that comes, when there is no cause, and so irritare silentem morbum, as Hernius complaines, stirre vp a silent disease which often fals out, which by good counsell alone, good advice alone might haue bin composed.

1792 J. Barlow Advice Privileged Orders (ed. 2) I. ii. 57 It likewise performs the office of silent disease and of unperceived decay; where we may contemplate it as a canker corroding the vitals of the moral world.

1876 W. Stokes Lect. Fever xx. 146 In the first [category] it may be said that the local disease is silent.

1928 W. Overend Radiogr. of Chest II. iv. 49 There are two forms of silent pneumonia: a hilar which does not reach the pleura; and a cortical which does not reach the hilum.

1951 Nature 30 June 1061/1 The presence of latent or ‘silent’ viruses in plants and other organisms is not, of course, new.

1979 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts 127 171/2 We have had no great disease problem associated with them as yet but I have a feeling that the natural host is often a silent carrier.

2020 Los Angeles Times 27 Feb. (Nexis) The news of potential silent transmission does not eliminate the possibility of containing the virus [sc. coronavirus Covid-19] in the U.S. and preventing an outbreak.

†c. Of the moon: not visible, at or near new moon. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

a1646 J. Gregory Posthuma (1649) 202 The most easie deliverie..is alwaies in the increas, toward and in the full of the Moon, and the hardest labors in the new and silent Moon.

a1727 I. Newton Observ. Prophecies Daniel (1733) i. xi. 160 The Jews referred all the time of the silent moon, as they phrased it, that is, of the moon's disappearing, to the old moon.

a1822 P. B. Shelley With Guitar in Fraser's Mag. (1833) Jan. 79 The silent moon, In her interlunar swoon.

d. Of a distilled spirit: possessing no flavour.Silent spirits are thoroughly distilled, removing the flavour of the source of fermentation, and are cheaper than spirits that are not distilled in this way and so may be blended with them (see e.g. quot. 1904).

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > insipidity > [adjective]

wallowc897

smatchless?c1225

unsavoury?c1225

fresha1398

savourlessa1398

wearish1398

wershed1398

fond?c1430

unsavoured1435

palled1440

mildc1450

walsh1513

wallowish1548

dead1552

waterish1566

cold1585

flatten1594

seasonless1595

wersha1599

blown1600

flash1601

fatuous1608

tasteless1611

flat1617

insipid1620

ingustable1623

flashy1625

flatted1626

saltless1633

gustless1636

remiss1655

rheumatical1655

untasteable1656

vapid1656

exolete1657

distasted1662

vappous1673

insulse1676

toothless1679

mawkisha1697

intastable1701

waugh1703

impoignant1733

flavourless1736

instimulating1740

deadish1742

mawky1755

brineless1791

wishy-washy1791

keestless1802

shilpit1814

wish-washy1814

sapidless1821

silent1826

slushy1839

bland1878

spendsavour1879

wish-wash1896

dolled1917

spiceless1980

the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > [adjective] > flavourless

silent1826

1826 Scotsman 11 Mar. 156/3 As he intends to continue on Grain only for a few weeks, he begs that those who may want a fine pure silent spirit would favour him with an early application.

1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 405 Well purified or clean spirits, such as the distillers call silent whiskey.

1904 Lancet 12 Nov. 1363/1 Three prosecutions against publicans for selling brandy adulterated with silent spirit.

2011 Indian Express (Nexis) 19 May The transport fees levied by the government was Rs 3 per litre of silent spirit for manufacturing Indian made foreign liquor.

6. Designating a group of people whose views remain unknown or unexpressed, esp. as contrasted with a more vocal or dominant group. Cf. silent majority n. 2.

ΚΠ

1866 G. Meredith Let. 15 Jan. (1970) I. 326 Will bawlings in the street avail?.. They irritate the slumbering dominant party, without strengthening the insurgent. What is being done in the Fortnightly, for instance..does strengthen, while it increases the silent band.

1935 H. Heslop Last Cage Down (1984) i. xviii. 150 The mass of silent men who paid their trade union dues because it was the right and proper thing to do and left it at that.

2007 National Post (Canada) (Nexis) 16 Apr. a6 It was mainly the silent masses that allowed horrendous crimes to take place.

7. Molecular Biology.

a. Of a mutation: that does not result in a detectable phenotypic change, esp. in the structure of a protein; spec. that does not result in a change in the amino acid specified by a codon.Mutations in a codon that do not result in a change of amino acids are also called synonymous or same-sense. Contrasted with missense adj.

ΚΠ

1963 Amer. Scientist June 241 Val/ala/glu/gly/arg/ser in tryptophan synthetase can be written as UUG/CUG/AUG/GUG/GCG/GCC/UCC, including a ‘silent’ mutation of GUG/GCG glycine.

1973 A. Alland Evol. Human Behavior (ed. 2) iii. 101 The analysis of hemoglobin has revealed several silent mutations.

1982 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79 1233/2 Seven of the 12 mutations are in noncoding regions, and 2 of the 5 mutations in coding sequences are silent.

2014 S. B. Prusiner Madness & Memory xii. 161 Besides coding and silent mutations, there are germline and somatic mutations.

b. Of a gene: not functional; spec. not undergoing expression (transcription or translation).

ΚΠ

1964 A. G. Motulsky in A. G. Steinberg & A. G. Bearn Progress Med. Genetics III. ii. 52 We have studied two additional patients with complete absence of pseudocholinesterase activity and presumably homozygous for the ‘silent’ gene.

1990 EMBO Jrnl. 9 2574/2 The artificial gene remains silent during the period of development when ftz is expressed.

2007 New Scientist 13 Jan. 29/2 If these ‘silent genes’ are somehow switched back on,..long-lost traits could reappear.

B. n.

1. With the and plural agreement. Silent people as a class.

ΚΠ

1569 E. Elviden Closet of Counsells f. 61^v By silence the discretion of the silent, thou mayst deme, And silence vsed in a foole doth make him witty seeme.

1783 F. Burney Evelina (new ed.) III. iii. 44 She has neither leisure nor thought to attend to the silent.

1963 Jrnl. Conflict Resol. 7 622/1 When a committee chairman announced that a measure under consideration shall be considered approved if no objection is heard, he has no way of measuring the dissent diffused among the silent.

2012 Newcastle (Austral.) Herald (Nexis) 12 Feb. 10 Still waters may run deep but it is at least as likely to be true that the silent are out of their depth.

†2. The quietest part. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [noun] > silence > time of

silent1595

1595 H. Roberts Pheander sig. G2 Grant me licence to issue out of the city with my companies, in the silent of y^e night.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) i. iv. 17 Deepe Night, darke Night, the silent of the Night.

†3. A device by which a clock, alarm, etc., can be prevented from striking or acting. Obsolete.Cf. earlier strike-or-silent n. at strike v. Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [noun] > silence > that which silences > silencer on clock or alarm

silent1863

1863 R. S. Culley Handbk. Pract. Telegr. viii. 129 A switch of this kind attached to an alarum is called a ‘silent’.

4. A silent film (see sense A. 3e). Opposed to talkie n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > type of film > [noun] > silent

Keystone1914

silent1928

1928 Montana Standard 31 Dec. 10/2 He has managed to make the best talkies, the best silents, the best directed talkies.

1931 B. Brown Talking Pictures xi. 289 Over-acting for silents was accepted as natural.

1977 ‘J. le Carré’ Honourable Schoolboy xvii. 404 Even the latest films up here are silents.

2019 Australian (Nexis) 18 May 4 The Cheaters was shot as a silent film, although talkies had begun to replace silents after the success of The Jazz Singer in 1927.

5. Frequently with capital initial. A member of the Silent Generation (Silent Generation n. at Compounds 2).

ΚΠ

1958 Bucknell Rev. (Lewisburg, Pa.) 7 219 Wilbur's contemporaries are called the ‘beat’ generation..and the ‘silent’ generation... The two epithets, however, suggest different wings of this generation, the ‘beats’ being noisier and inclining toward Bohemia and the West, the ‘silents’ toward the academy and the East.

1995 M. Regele & M. Schulz Death of Church xi. 121 A close colleague..is a silent. We asked him one day to reflect on his generation.

2008 K. W. Gronbach Age Curve vii. 60 Unlike the GI Generation and the Silents who emulated them, Boomers don't spend wisely.

6. A setting on a mobile phone or other electronic device which disables the ringtone and other sounds, and typically activates an alternative form of alert such as a vibration. Esp. in on silent. Cf. silent mode n. at Compounds 2.

ΚΠ

1984 Finding Company Intelligence (Washington Researchers) ii. 64 Will they..feel comfortable in keeping their pager on ‘silent’ or in choosing not to respond immediately to a page?

1997 T. Clancy & M. Greenberg Politika xxxix. 297 He had a cell phone clipped to his belt, its ringer set to Silent, but he felt the vibration in the small of his back.

2017 Commentary Nov. 51/2 Students..were told to put their phones on silent and out of sight.

Phrases

P1. as silent as the grave and variants: refraining from or not making any sound; (of a person) discreet, secretive; (of a place) hushed, completely silent, esp. with an eerie or ominous atmosphere.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adjective] > disposed to secrecy, secretive

dernOE

covert1340

secrec1385

secretc1440

mum1532

closec1540

whist1577

as silent as the grave1613

privatea1625

dark1650

uncommunicating1650

dry1681

uncommunicative1691

unexpansive1847

secretive1853

tight-lipped1876

cagey1909

zip-lipped1943

closet1948

coy1961

tight1977

the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [adjective] > silent > of places or times

stillc1275

quieta1382

silent1559

as silent as the grave1613

cosh1803

soundless1816

voiceless1816

1613 H. Austin tr. Ovid Scourge of Venus sig. C^v As silent as the night they now do stand.

1657 A. Farindon XXX. Serm. ii. 275 Behold a man..dumb to all reproaches; and when injuries are loudest, as silent as the Grave, kissing the hand that strikes him.

1751 R. Schomberg Ietro-rhapsodia 10 So here all paus'd, and silent as the Tomb, Attend the Goddess to pronounce their Doom.

1825 Worcester Mag. & Hist. Jrnl. Oct. 13 Silent as the grave the column moved forward.

1829 W. Scott Jrnl. 1 July (1946) 89 The house..became silent as the grave.

1889 R. L. Stevenson Master of Ballantrae iii. 62 We..lowered ourselves softly into a skiff, and left that ship behind us as silent as the grave.

1936 W. S. Maugham Cosmopolitans 269 I will be as silent as the grave, but honestly I don't understand. What does it all mean?

1954 Shakespeare Q. 5 304 But no voice is raised in an antiphon for poor Ophelia, and the little cortege is as silent as death itself.

2015 Cape Times (Nexis) 17 Nov. Marius Fransman, leader of the ANC in the Western Cape, is also as silent as the grave about the case.

†P2. Proverb. the silent sow eats up all the draff and variants: a quiet or cunning person ends up in the best position. Cf. still adj. 2c. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1640 H. Mill Nights Search viii. 44 The sow that's silent, eates up all the draffe.

1828 E. Bulwer-Lytton Pelham II. xxiv. 238 The silent sow sups all the broth.

1855 T. C. Haliburton Nature & Human Nature I. vii. 201 The silent pig is the best feeder.

1922 L. Crowninsheild Bacon Reminisc. ii. 27 He once described Uncle Charles as ‘this doctor fellow, he sits still and does not speak like the “silent sow he sucks all the swill”’, not a very refined description, but an apt one.

P3. to fall silent: to stop speaking or making noise; to become silent. Hence: to cease operating.

ΚΠ

1659 W. Chamberlayne Pharonnida i. iii. sig. D3 Since the innocent Are staind with guilt, when in contempt of Fate They silent fal.

1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity iii, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 488 The Winds fall silent; and the Waves decrease.

1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) ii. v. 359 He fell silent; and after looking about the ceiling again, for a little while, looked down at her.

1928 Scotsman 10 Nov. 10/2 It is ten years since the Armistice was signed and the guns fell silent.

1976 Times 7 May 16/4 Suddenly the room fell silent and there rose to his feet the lugubrious figure of Christmas Humphreys, QC.

2019 Metro (Scotl. ed.) (Nexis) 13 May 29 British manufacturing began to decline and the factories fell silent.

P4. there is a time to speak and a time to be silent: see time n., int., and conj. Phrases 6a.

Compounds

C1.

a. Modifying participles, with the sense ‘in a silent way’, as in silent-falling, silent-sliding, silent-working, etc. (adjectives).

ΚΠ

1596 C. Fitzgeffry Sir Francis Drake sig. F3 Like as some travel-tired passenger, By silent-sliding Thames rose-shadow'd side..Sits downe to view the sight-reviving slide.

?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xv. 35 Thou Flood, whose silent-gliding waues, the vnder ground doth beare.

1728 J. Thomson Spring 45 Like silent-working Heaven, surprizing oft The lonely Heart with unexpected Good.

1820 J. Keats Lamia ii, in Lamia & Other Poems 36 Wherefore flout The silent-blessing fate, warm cloister'd hours.

1868 J. H. Newman Verses Var. Occasions 157 I will..view Each shrivelling stalk and silent-falling leaf.

2004 Sunday Tasmanian (Nexis) 3 Oct. 32 Even the handsome kitchen..is filled with silent-sliding mini panels that hide clutter from view.

b. Forming adjectives with the sense ‘that has silent or nimble ——’ by combining with a noun + -ed, as in silent-footed, silent-winged, etc.

ΚΠ

1757 W. Thompson Poems Several Occasions 75 Soft as the silent-footed Dews That steal upon the Starlight-Hours.

1835 Introd. Study Birds (Religious Tract Soc.) 76 Unexpectedly seized by this silent-winged marauder.

1895 ‘C. Holland’ My Japanese Wife 11 A white cat flits ghost-like and silent-footed across the path.

1910 Better Fruit Oct. 32/3 So fierce was the onslaught of Old King Frost and his silent-fingered scavengers.

2004 Weekend Austral. (Nexis) 28 Aug. (Travel section) c4 Everything is discretion itself: quiet taps on doors, silent-footed porters, names of celebrity guests whispered never quite aloud.

C2.

silent earthquake n. (a) a major disturbance, upheaval, emotional event, etc., whose occurrence is apparent only to the person affected; (b) Geology a fracture or displacement of the earth's crust in which energy release is too slow (over a span of hours to months) to be perceived.

ΚΠ

1681 J. Dryden Spanish Fryar ii. 19 That fearfull Love which trembled in his Eyes; and, with a silent Earthquake, shook his Soul.

1883 Outing Nov. 142/2 My enjoyment of..[these speculations] ended as if shocked by a silent earthquake, when two young ladies came out of the chemical-room and met me.

1957 T. McGrath Gates of Ivory 94 It should have been his own office building, but it wasn't... There was no door where there should have been one and for a moment he felt again an upsetness, as if reality had shifted, a silent earthquake of number and identity.

1974 Nature 25 Jan. 188/1 If the volume change which preceded the release of the short period energy were insufficient to initiate the shear melting instability, then such a 'silent earthquake' would most likely remain unreported.

2014 Observer (Nexis) 7 Sept. 20 A glimmer of hope comes in the recent discovery that some large earthquakes are preceded by strange ‘silent earthquakes’ that scientists call slow slip events.

Silent Generation n. (also with lower-case initials) the generation of people born before that of the baby boomers (roughly from the mid 1920s to the mid 1940s), perceived as tending towards conformism, a reluctance to discuss political issues, and restraint in their behaviour or outlook.

ΚΠ

1951 Time 5 Nov. 46/1 The most startling fact about the younger generation is its silence... It does not issue manifestoes, make speeches, or carry posters. It has been called ‘The Silent Generation’.

1990 W. J. Bouwsma Usable Past iii. xvi. 349 The gentle complaint of our editor..hinted at the charge of dullness brought by bored professors against their boring students of the silent generation.

2016 MailOnline (Nexis) 15 Sept. When asked for their specific view on each topic only the Silent Generation was more conservative that [sic] Generation Z.

silent heat n. Veterinary Medicine ovulation occurring without the typical behavioural and physical signs of oestrus; an instance of this.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > animal body > general parts > sexual organs and reproduction > [noun] > mating > rut > silent heat

silent heat1932

1932 W. Orr & F. F. Darling Physiol. & Genetical Aspects Sterility Domest. Animals 26 The more prolonged absence of normal heat occurs in endometritic animals in which ovulation may take place, quite frequently associated with ‘silent’ heat.

1950 N. Barron Dairy Farmer's Vet. Bk. vi. 65 Cows sometimes have short and possibly ‘silent’ heats that pass unnoticed, when the ovary produces the egg but the cow does not show any outward sign of being in season.

2018 K. A. Houpt Domest. Animal Behaviour (ed. 6) iv. 109 One reason for silent heat may be related to the fact that mares do show mate preferences.

silent highway n. now chiefly historical a navigable river or canal.Esp. used of the River Thames.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > [noun] > river

floodc825

streamc875

eaeOE

water streamOE

flumec1175

fleamc1300

riverc1300

currentc1380

reea1500

ford1563

fluent1598

draught1601

nymph1605

amnic1623

flux1637

nullah1656

R1692

currency1758

silent highway1841

the world > the earth > water > body of water > channel of water > [noun] > navigable waterway

waterwaya1387

fosse1601

riverway1701

navigation1720

navigation branch1778

silent highway1841

igarape1853

seaway1921

cruiseway1967

1841 ‘F. Summerly’ Hand-bk. Hampton Court 7 The right royal road to Hampton Court is by the ‘silent highway’ of the Thames.

1875 Birmingham Daily Mail 5 Mar. 2/5 I speculate on the incalculable good that a ‘Home’ would do in rescuing girl-babies of the silent highway from the unwomanly scenes of their wasted young lives.

1935 Times 28 Feb. 14/2 This Cinderella of the bridges that span London's silent highway.

2018 @SirWilliamD 5 Mar. in twitter.com (accessed 31 July 2019) Boatman with his dog on the Grand Union Canal, one of London's silent highways.

silent killer n. a disease or disorder, or a biological, chemical, or physical agent, that is capable of causing death without first producing noticeable or recognizable symptoms.

ΚΠ

1931 Kentucky Advocate 9 Dec. 2/1 You can help stave off this Silent Killer [sc. Tuberculosis] and prevent it reaping a tremendous toll, if you will only buy Christmas seals.

1958 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 58 236/1 Carbon monoxide is a silent killer which claims many lives each year.

2007 Independent 20 Apr. 14/2 Known as the ‘silent killer’ because it is symptomless but deadly, high blood pressure can damage major organs and lead to heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and dementia.

Silent Land n. (also with lower-case initials) allusive the afterlife; cf. silence n. 2b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > deity > heaven > [noun] > future state

other worldOE

worldOE

everlastingnessa1382

futurity1741

other sidea1822

happy hunting-ground(s)1826

Silent Land1826

1826 Christian Reformer Dec. 468 We are all travelling fast to the silent land which is peopled with our fathers, our kindred and our friends.

1853 Working Man's Way in World xiv. 320 (heading) Parents and friends in the Silent Land.

1939 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Ingleside xxvii. 186 Ah well, Anne dearie, they've both passed long since into the Silent Land.

2018 @ayoola_imran 26 Nov. in twitter.com (accessed 31 July 2019) Still can't believe you've gone to the silent land. I received your sudden death with deep sense of sadness.

silent mode n. a setting on a mobile phone or other electronic device which disables the ringtone and other sounds, and typically activates an alternative form of alert such as a vibration.

ΚΠ

1974 Great Bend (Kansas) Tribune 28 Apr. a25/5 ‘Silent’ paging is..offered by the company. This means that instead of hearing an alerting ‘beep’ or tone, the subscriber may switch to silent mode and when he is called, he will feel only a vibration.

2017 K. Kwan Rich People Probl. iii. i. 214 My phone began to vibrate on silent mode.

silent partner n. a partner who invests in a business but is not involved in its management; = sleeping partner n. at sleeping adj. 5a.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > businessman > [noun] > partner > types of partner

sleeping partner1785

latent partner1791

principal1806

special partner1811

silent partner1818

limited partner1824

sleeper1901

limited1953

1818 National Advocate (N.Y.) 4 Feb. A Gentleman being perfectly master of a lucrative business, is desirous of obtaining an active or silent partner—the capital required need not exceed 2000 dols.

2007 S. Worboyes Lipstick & Powder x. 192 His attention was grabbed straight away...Thought it was an excellent project. We got talking and he asked if I was looking for a silent partner.

silent service n. (also with upper-case initials) Navy colloquial (with the) the navy; (in later use also) spec. (originally U.S.) the submarine service.In early use probably not a fixed collocation. [With reference to the silent defensive vigilance of a navy or (in later use) a submarine fleet (operating undetected).]

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > navy > [noun] > the British navy

the king's (also queen's) navya1382

Royal Navy1583

the navy royal1601

the fleet1712

RN?1791

the senior service1899

silent service1904

1904 W. C. H. Wood Fight for Canada pref. p. xviii Do justice to the great silent service of the sea.

1943 N.Y. Times 28 Feb. e1/7 She was only the fourth United States submarine lost in Pacific combat. The other craft of the ‘silent service’..have accounted for 130 Japanese ships sunk.

1982 Daily Tel. 2 June 16/3 The Army learned certain lessons in Northern Ireland. The silent service did not share that experience.

2019 States News Service (Nexis) 9 Dec. As so often with the Silent Service, it's hard for those of us above the waves to know what really happened.

silent spring n. (also with upper-case initials) a spring in which there is no birdsong as a result of changes in or damage to the natural environment, esp. that caused by toxic chemicals, leading to a decline in bird populations; (more generally) the state of having a thoroughly polluted or damaged natural environment.Used with allusion to the title of the work by Rachel L. Carson (see quot. 1962).

ΚΠ

1962 R. L. Carson (title) Silent spring.

1970 N.Y. Times 12 June 38 The Caspian Sea is probably the most dramatic battle-ground of Soviet Russia's looming silent spring and to date this battle is being lost to oil, petroleum products, industrial and city sewage, ballast and waste from ships.

1970 N.Y. Times 27 June 28 If we don't develop suitable pesticides—and use them—we really will have Silent Spring because there won't be any trees left for the birds to sing in.

2019 Lake Cowichan (Brit. Columbia) Gaz. (Nexis) 14 Mar. (Final ed.) Given the worrisome loss of insect life due to the world-wide use of pesticides, I've joined the ranks who aim to avoid a Silent Spring.

silent system now historical (with the) a prison system in which prisoners must be silent at all times and are prohibited from communicating with others, sometimes also involving hard labour, monotonous tasks, or solitary confinement.The silent system is also referred to as the Auburn system or the New York system, as it evolved in Auburn Prison in New York. It is often contrasted with the separate system (see separate confinement at separate adj. 2b). Although both systems enforced complete silence, the silent system required prisoners to do hard labour or boring, monotonous tasks alongside one another during the day. Under the separate system, prisoners were kept in complete isolation in solitary confinement during the day and night on the premise that this would allow them to reflect on their offences and repent. The silent system is particularly associated with the 19th cent., although variations of it still existed under this name in the 20th cent. (see e.g. quot. 1977).

ΚΠ

1834 Hampshire Advertiser & Salisbury Guardian 11 Jan. All the prisoners who have been liberated express themselves in terms of unqualified horror at the enforcement of the silent system.

1977 Winnipeg Free Press 19 Feb. 38/1 We've gone from the silent system of the 50s, where under no circumstances were you allowed to hold a conversation with a prison guard, to the system of today.

2013 Isis 104 831/1 But silence can also be used to break people as part of the exercise of power; consider the ‘silent system’ of prison care in the nineteenth century.

silent trade n. historical a system of trade in which goods are exchanged without the parties encountering each other.In this system of trade, the first party leaves goods in a specific location and then withdraws. A second party then leaves the goods it wishes to exchange in the same location and withdraws. If the first party agrees to the trade, it takes the goods offered by the second party, before the second party returns and takes those offered by the first party. If the first party does not accept the exchange, it leaves the goods and withdraws again to allow the second party to alter its offer.This system of trade is popularly attributed to traders in West Africa, but the existence of such a practice is disputed (see e.g. quot. 2007).

ΚΠ

1899 M. H. Kingsley W. Afr. Stud. x. 220 (heading) Concerning the accounts given by classic writers of West Africa, and of the method of barter called the Silent Trade.

2007 Jrnl. Afr. Hist. 48 396 Farias showed that the ‘silent trade’ was not a fact but a topos that kept resurfacing in Arabic, Portuguese and other sources after the ninth century.

silent trap n. Contract Bridge (now rare) a strategy of not bidding despite having a sufficiently strong hand, in order to mislead one's opponents.

ΚΠ

1920 Illustr. Sporting & Dramatic News 17 Jan. 702/3 It is very much nicer to have your opponents' score at love, because then if you keep quite quiet they will sometimes egg each other into an overcall, in the belief that you have nothing in your hand. This is what I call the Silent Trap.

1931 A. E. M. Foster Auction Bridge made Clear 119 When the opponents are saying ‘No bid’ they are not necessarily void of high cards. They may be willing to leave the bidders alone while the contract is under the game line, but quite prepared to step in with a punishing double if the game is bid. This is known as the ‘Silent Trap’.

1935 Western Mail (Perth, Austral.) 10 Oct. 28/5 South thought that as North had called third in hand it was very probably psychic, and East may have been setting a silent trap to get a bigger penalty.

1999 Times 29 Nov. 55/1 The silent trap by the wife of the partnership who was only interested in slams and penalties.

silent treatment n. (a) treatment with silence, rather than comment; the tactic of ignoring an issue, accusation, etc., instead of responding or reacting to it (now rare); (b) (chiefly with the) the stubborn refusal to talk to or engage with a person, esp. because of a recent disagreement or as a means of showing annoyance or disapproval; chiefly in to give (a person) the silent treatment, to get the silent treatment.

ΚΠ

1825 Edinb. Jrnl. Sci. 2 334 The necessity of repelling a charge, which, had it come from any other quarter, would have received that silent treatment which it merits.

1866 A. White Leander Hall (ed. 2) xv. 170 He thought his daughter had erred, but..would force her into right by silent treatment.

1907 Independent 12 Sept. 592/2 The cadets..have given him the ‘silent treatment’. They have done nothing to him, simply not spoken to him, treating him with contempt.

1962 A. Valentine Ld. George Germain xix. 276 The Ministry doubtless hoped that, given silent treatment, the Whig diatribes would soon wear out..their audience.

1992 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 18 Oct. 9/3 You can tell when she's angry with you. You either get hollered at or get the silent treatment.

2004 J. Burchill Sugar Rush (2005) 208 If I hadn't been giving her the silent treatment because of my hurt pride, she'd never have even gone off with this psycho.

silent whistle n. (also silent dog whistle) a high-frequency whistle producing a note audible to a dog but scarcely or not at all audible to a person.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping dogs or cats > [noun] > keeping or affinity with dogs > place to exercise hounds > collars, leads, etc.

linea1000

collar1377

torretc1386

dog collar1485

doghook1528

terret1530

slip1564

dogwhip1583

trash1611

shangan1787

puzzle-peg1789

puzzle1792

shangy1825

leading-strap1856

nosepiece1865

dog tag1882

lead1893

harness1895

silent whistle1923

standing iron1934

1923 Daily Mail 12 Apr. 8/5 There is..the ‘silent’ dog-whistle which calls a four-footed friend 100 yards away yet cannot be heard by the man you are walking with.

1965 D. Francis For Kicks xiii. 173 That's a silent whistle... For dogs... You can't hear it very well..but of course a dog can.

2016 Dorset Echo (Nexis) 11 May The owner had a silent whistle and had been using it to call the pooch back to shore.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	silent
释义	silentadj.n. Brit. /ˈsʌɪlənt/, /ˈsʌɪln̩t/, U.S. /ˈsaɪlənt/ Forms: late Middle English–1500s scylent, late Middle English– silent, 1500s sylente, 1500s–1600s scilent, 1500s–1600s silente, 1500s–1600s scilente, 1500s–1600s sylent. Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin silent-, silēns. Etymology: < classical Latin silent-, silēns making no sound, marked by absence of sound, (of the moon) not shining, use as adjective of the present participle of silēre to be silent, probably < the same Indo-European base as Gothic silan (in an isolated attestation in the prefixed verb anasilan to become quiet) and Old English sāl- (in sālnes silence).Compare Middle French, French silent (end of the 15th cent.; now rare), Italian silente (1511; now literary); the usual adjectives in French and Italian are respectively silencieux and silenzioso (for both, see silentious adj.). A. adj. 1. a. Of a person: keeping or maintaining silence; refraining from or tending to refrain from speech or utterance; unable to speak.Cf. strong silent man n. at strong adj. Compounds 3; strong silent type n. at strong adj. Compounds 3. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] unspeakinga1382 speechless1390 mutec1400 dumb1406 silenta1425 peaceablec1425 secretc1440 of few wordsa1500 tongue-tied1529 mum1532 closec1540 strait-laced1546 tongue-dumb1556 incommunicable1568 sparing1568 inconversable1577 retentive1599 wordless1604 mumbudget1622 uncommunicable1628 monastica1631 word-bound1644 on (also upon) the reserve1655 strait-mouthed1664 oyster-like1665 incommunicative1670 mumchance1681 speechless1726 taciturnous1727 tongue-tacked1727 monosyllabic1735 silentish1737 untalkative1739 silentious1749 buttoned-up1767 taciturn1771 close as wax1772 untittletattling1779 reticent1825 voiceless1827 say-nothing1838 unremonstrant1841 still1855 unvocal1858 inexpansive186. short-tongued1864 non-communicating1865 tight-lipped1876 unworded1886 chup1896 tongue-bound1906 shut-mouthed1936 zip-lipped1943 shtum1958 the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > loss or lack of voice > [adjective] mutec1400 silenta1425 voiceless1535 noteless1826 unvoiceful1872 a1425 (?a1400) Pistle Discrecioun of Stirings (Harl. 674) in Deonise hid Diuinite (1955) 72 (MED) Þou arte silently spekyng & spekingly silent, fastyngly etyng and etyngly fasting. 1588 R. Greene Perimedes sig. Biiii^v Delia by being silent, seemed to consent. 1664 in G. Miege Relation of Three Embassies (1669) 373 Upon so extraordinary occasions..had I an hundred tongues I should be struck silent. 1715 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. i. 430 At awful Distance long they silent stand, Loth to advance, or speak their hard Command. 1797 A. Radcliffe Italian I. i. 3 Timidity..which kept him silent, notwithstanding his wish to speak. 1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son l. 505 They were both silent for a time; she weeping. 2014 L. Lalami Moor's Acct. i. 11 This made no sense to me, yet I remained silent. b. Of an animal: not making any sound; not making its usual sounds or calls. Also (of a species of bird): not having an easily recognizable or distinguishable song (rare). ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] > of animals or birds silent1573 1573 T. Twyne tr. Virgil in T. Phaer & T. Twyne tr. Virgil Whole .xii. Bks. Æneidos xii. sig. Nnij The fearfull keepers [of two mightie Bulles] stand a side, And all the flockinge heard about deepe silent [L. mutum] doth abide, The hefers mumblinge soft do make. 1648 Mercurius Pacificus 2 All the domestick creatures hate, with an inveterate and Vatinian hatred, the crafty Fox, the greedy Wolf, as much as the birds the silent birding Cat. 1677 M. Mackaile Macis Macerata Epistle to Reader §7 Why that Bird [sc. the Cuckow] (being silent all the Winter) doth..disturb the pleasant and concordant chirming of the Lark, and other delicious Birds. 1771 J. R. Forster tr. P. Kalm Trav. N. Amer. II. 172 It seems as if they [sc. bullfrogs] had a captain among them: for when he begins to croak, all the others follow; and when he stops, the others are all silent. 1801 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds Suppl. II. 204 Silent T[anager]... Inhabits the thick woods of Guiana; is a solitary bird:..and by no means endowed with a song. 1832 Ld. Tennyson Œnone in Poems (new ed.) 52 The grasshopper is silent in the grass. 1874 G. F. Berkeley Fact Against Fiction I. iii. 69 The silent hound and the skirting hound adopt their dishonest proceedings from the same source—that of jealousy. 1981 M. P. S. Irwin Birds of Zimbabwe 306 It [sc. the Fan-tailed Cisticola] occurs..with the Crackling Cloud Cisticola C. ayresii, and the Silent Cloud Cisticola C. brunnescens. 2009 O. Gentile Life List i. 15 She took the kids to the nest again and again to see [great horned owl] chicks hatch, fuzzy and white..; grow into fierce, silent hunters; and, finally, fly off to fend for themselves. c. figurative. Of an abstract or inanimate thing incapable of sound: giving the impression of refraining from speech or sound; impassive, unobtrusive. Also: communicating a message without speech or sound. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] > of things silent1608 1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear iv. 62 My dutie cannot bee silent, when I thinke your highnesse wrong'd. View more context for this quotation 1660 R. Allestree Private Devotions in Gentlemans Calling 170 Idleness, though a Crying sin.., hath been the silentest of my guilts. 1759 T. Gray Epit. Tomb-stone in Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 485 Where this silent marble weeps, A friend, a wife, a mother, sleeps. 1779 Mirror No. 61 There is a silent chronicle of past hours in the inanimate things amidst which they have been spent. 1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice I. i. iii. 29 Respect the silent heart of your mother. 1862 Ld. Tennyson Idylls Ded. 16 All narrow jealousies Are silent; and we see him as he moved. 1976 E. M. Brown New Haven 48 The silent facade dominates a complicated intersection. 2. a. Of an object: making no noise or sound. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [adjective] > silent coyc1330 stone-still1338 quietc1384 softa1393 peacec1400 swownc1400 tongueless1447 clumc1485 mutec1500 whist1513 silent1542 dead1548 husht1557 whisted1557 whust1558 whust1558 whisht1570 huisht1576 quiet (also mum, mute, still, etc.) as a mouse (in a cheese)1584 fordead1593 noiseless1608 whisha1612 dumba1616 soundlessa1616 st1655 silentish1737 defta1763 sleeping1785 untoned1807 mousy1812 soughless1851 deathlike1856 whisperless1863 deathly1865 1542 T. Becon Dauids Harpe Ep. Ded. sig. A.vj^v Let all Harpes & other musicall instrumentes be silente & holde theyr peace, whan Dauids harpe entreth & commeth in place. 1737 R. Challoner Catholick Christian Instructed xxiii. 220 From..this Day,..our Bells are silent throughout the Catholick Church. 1798 R. W. Miller in Ld. Nelson Dispatches & Lett. (1846) VII. p. clvi The Guerrier and Conquérant..continued for a considerable time to fire..a gun or two, and about 8 o'clock..were totally silent. 1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 17 A piece of turret stair, Worn by the feet that now were silent. 2019 MailOnline 1 Jan. London's Big Ben, silent for much of 2018 due to renovations, chimed once more. b. Characterized by the absence of sound or noise; not filled with noise or activity; quiet, noiseless, still. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [adjective] > silent > of places or times stillc1275 quieta1382 silent1559 as silent as the grave1613 cosh1803 soundless1816 voiceless1816 1559 J. Heywood tr. Seneca Troas iii. C.vi^v Two partes of all the sylent nyght, almost then passed weare. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. v. 38 The silent houres steale on, And flakie darkenesse breakes within the east. View more context for this quotation 1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 14 The nights..whose length is abundantly able..to stirre up our phantasie by a silent quietnesse. 1798 S. T. Coleridge Fears in Solitude 1 A green and silent spot amid the hills! A small and silent dell! 1887 L. Oliphant Episodes iv. 67 It involved..bark-canoeing on distant and silent lakes. 1922 Current Hist. June 444/2 At nightfall electric lights were cut off and the streets were silent, dark and deserted. 2015 @adrimvoyiatt 18 May in twitter.com (accessed 5 Aug. 2019) Is it bad that I love coming home to a silent, empty house? c. Of a machine, component, or process: operating with or causing minimal noise. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [adjective] > silent > operating silently silent1846 1846 Sci. Amer. 1 Jan. The cars, and especially the engines, used on this road will be of light construction, the latter being operated by either a rotary, or other silent engine, that it may work without noise. 1931 B. Brown Talking Pictures x. 246 It is evident that gears and such like parts will revolve at high speed with reasonable noise; when slowed down they will be very much more silent. a1943 H. A. Whitcombe in J. Joyce Trams of Past (1979) 25 The citizens of Birmingham were proud of their steam trams and acclaimed them before all others for their..smooth and silent running. 2011 India Automobile News (Nexis) 28 Oct. BorgWarner recently launched its new silent chain for the balance shaft drive on Hyundai's Theta II four-cylinder gas direct-injection (GDI) and turbo-GDI engines. 3. a. Characterized or marked by silence or absence of speech; performed, made, experienced, etc., in silence or without speaking. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > speech > taciturnity or reticence > [adjective] > characterized by lack of speech dumba1538 silent1549 secret1556 wordless1594 mump1599 speechless1726 elinguid1775 1549 T. Chaloner tr. Erasmus Praise of Folie sig. E For bidde ones one of these sages to diner, and either with his silent glommyng [L. tristi silentio], or his darke and eluisshe problemes he will trouble all the bourde. 1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxv. 159 Religion hauing likewise her silent rites. 1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. ix. 204 Princes politickly understanding their mutual secret language (not to say silent signs). 1691 J. Hartcliffe Treat. Virtues 319 His Religion was to be placed in a sober and silent Piety. 1779 Mirror No. 27 That silent and majestic sorrow which commands our reverence and our admiration. 1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. vii. 175 The younger knights told each other with their eyes, in silent correspondence [etc.]. 1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. i. 27 She took care that they should be silent tears. 1925 H. J. R. Murray Gen. Rep. Teaching of Eng. in London Elem. Schools 16 The effectiveness of this type of silent reading, as compared with the more usual practice..is obvious. 2014 Z. Nawaz Laughing all Way to Mosque 12 My stomach growled as I mouthed a silent prayer: God, please kill me now. b. Not mentioned; undisclosed, secret; unrecorded; marked by the absence of any record. Now spec. of a textual correction, omission, etc.: made without an explicit note or marker. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > [adjective] > unrecorded, unmentioned unremembered1450 unentered1482 silent1564 unrecorded1577 unbooked1587 untolled1591 unregistered1603 unchronicled1610 unminuted1775 recordless1828 unindexed1832 unenrolled1837 uncalendared1850 unfiled1864 unticketed1865 undocumented1883 unlogged1883 de-accessioned1973 1564 J. Stubbs tr. T. de Bèze Hist. Life & Death Caluin sig. C.viij^v I ought not to keepe silent that which is true, and that I doe know. 1616 in Publ. Catholic Rec. Soc. (1906) 3 46 I cannot keep silent the singular pietie & bouldnesse of a certaine woeman. 1812 H. Weber in Wks. of Beaumont & Fletcher II. 55 (footnote) But the silent omission of this word and changing upon in this line to on.., is highly reprehensible. 1863 London Reader 12 Dec. 137/1 Seeking to make amends to her for his silent doubts by throwing into his manner the gravest devotion. 1868 H. H. Milman Ann. St. Paul's Cathedral ii. 28 He was bishop..for ten silent years. 1981 L. S. MacNiven & H. T. Moore Literary Lifelines p. v Silent corrections have been limited to restoring transposed letters. 2003 Catholic Hist. Rev. 89 290 The handling of the evidence is biased, with quotations having both significant and substantial silent omissions. c. Of a letter: written but not pronounced. Cf. mute adj. 4b, magic e n. at magic adj. Compounds.Sometimes designating a letter whose absence would have no impact on the pronunciation of the word, as b in doubt, and sometimes designating a letter that has a diacritic function, as final e indicating the length of the vowel of a preceding syllable, as in mute or fate. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > loss or lack of voice > [adjective] > silent (of letter) unsounded1530 unbesound?1533 silent1582 mute1638 1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie xvii. 113 Som vse the same silent e, after r, in the end, as lettre, cedre, childre, and such, where methink it were better to be the flat e, before r, as letter, ceder, childer. 1775 J. Walker Dict. Eng. Lang. sig. 4O^v Persuade, whose final E is silent, and serves only to lengthen the sound of the A in the last syllable. 1881 E. B. Tylor Anthropol. vii. 179 The now silent letters are relics of sounds which used to be really heard in Anglo-Saxon. 2017 Hispania 100 286 The letter ‘h’ is silent in Spanish and is often omitted by those who are not familiar with the spelling of a word. d. Designating quotation made without acknowledging or crediting the source; (of a quotation): used without indication that it is originally from another source. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary and textual criticism > literary criticism > commentary > [adjective] > without references silent1831 1831 Christian Advocate 17 Jan. There have been instances..in which we have deemed it proper to show up The Times by silent quotation to public disapproval. 1884 Presbyterian Rev. 5 iii. 262 There is an unbroken series of silent quotations from it. 2006 Slavonic & East European Rev. 84 448 Sometimes, as is only too well known, quotation can be silent, unacknowledged, almost insidious, in its form as plagiarism. e. Of a film: not accompanied by synchronized recorded sound or dialogue; spec. belonging to a genre of film typical in the early 20th cent. before the invention of talkies, as in silent film, silent movie. Also: of or relating to this film genre. Opposed to talkie n.Silent films commonly used title cards to express dialogue or to explain the plot, and were sometimes accompanied by live music or narration. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > type of film > [adjective] > silent silent1900 1900 Era 17 Nov. 30/4 (advt.) The phono-bio-tableaux. The Greatest and Most Wonderful Invention ever yet attained in Animated Photography... No longer a Silent Picture. 1918 N.Y. Times 25 Nov. 11/3 (heading) Two opera stars in silent films. 1931 B. Brown Talking Pictures i. 20 Showing talking pictures demanded skill and a degree of knowledge far in advance of what was adequate for the silent screen. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? iv. 59 He was married to one of the big silent stars. 1977 R. Barnard Death on High C's ii. 19 In Owen's production..you will be the silent-film heroine, and I will be the silent-film handsome seducer. 2005 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 23 June 12/2 Soon the silent movies..were even more popular than music halls or theater. 4. a. Refraining from communicating in writing, esp. by neglecting to respond to a letter, message, etc. In later use also: not writing or publishing one’s writing for a period of time.Usually in predicative use, and often with modifier or complement expressing a period of time, as in to be long silent, to have been silent for months, etc. ΚΠ a1568 R. Ascham in A. Fleming Panoplie Epist. (1576) 434 I tooke penne in hand, deuising with my selfe, howe I might..haue all my former silence excused... I confesse, that..muche am I to be blamed, for being so long silent. 1688 tr. Diogenes Lives, Opinions & Sayings Anc. Philosophers 296 When several wrote to him consolatory Epistles, he only kept himself silent. 1771 J. Wesley Let. 14 Dec. (1931) V. 292 I have been in doubt whether it was best for me to write or to leave you to your own reflections. But..I cannot be silent any longer without being wanting in affection. 1847 Lect. Eng. Poets iii. 87 Crabbe..was then silent until the year 1807, when he published his Parish Register. 1976 A. J. P. Taylor Let. 17 Dec. in Lett. to Eva (1991) 321 Crispin has been silent for two months... Ghana [is] about the worst place in the world for correspondence. 2019 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 15 May a25 I have since opted to lay low and stay relatively silent on social media. b. Of a speaker, writer, book, etc.: omitting mention or discussion of a particular issue; offering no account or record. Frequently with about, as to, †in, of, on, †to specifying the issue. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > [adjective] > containing no record silent1577 1577 M. Hanmer tr. Bp. Eusebius i. vii, in Aunc. Eccl. Hist. 233 These thinges did neyther Eusebius Pamphilus, neyther any other writer once make mention of... I coniecture the selfe same to haue happened vnto such, as herein haue bene silent. 1601 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Trauellers Breuiat 108 For (to be silent [It. per non rammentare] in matters of more ancient memorie) about the yeere of our Lord 1300 [etc.]. a1623 W. Pemble Short Expos. Zachary (1629) 92 Why were they silent of the other fasts, and touch onely vpon this? 1762 S. Foote Orators i. 23 The Court-Register has been silent to the members of common-council. 1813 Morning Chron. 9 Sept. The French may be silent in cases of disaster. 1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) IV. xviii. 224 As to the other shire..history is equally silent. 1917 R. D. Wilson Stud. Bk. of Daniel iv. 81 All the records of Egypt are silent about the third year of Jehoiakim. 1952 Observer 7 Dec. 1/7 The fact that they remained silent in cases involving such serious charges was enough to make the Secretary-General feel justified in dismissing them. 2019 Irish Independent (Nexis) 14 Nov. Company bosses can no longer stay silent on the social pressures facing their customers. 5. a. Inactive, dormant; not operative.See also silent partner n. at Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > inaction > [adjective] undiscurrent1509 idlec1522 sleepinga1538 silent1583 unactive1599 passive1604 quiescent1605 torpid1613 quieta1616 inactive1641 actionless1645 slumbering1706 slumberous1809 non-acting1838 supine1843 1583 J. Stockwood tr. J. von Ewich Duetie Magistrate in Time of Plague ii. ii. f. 68^v As in the heate of battaile, and amongst weapon (as is woont to be sayd) lawes are silent or mum. 1592 T. Churchyard Feast Full of Sad Cheere sig. B3 Let sports and pleasures silent be, and name no earthly blis: For heauy harts doe best agree, where death and dollor is. 1745 tr. L. J. M. Columella Of Husbandry iv. xxx. 202 The proper time for setting them is before they bud, while the rods are silent [L. dum silent virgæ]. 1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 203 A volcano, after being silent for ages, may suddenly start forth into fresh life. 2010 K. Turner Nat. Birth (e-book ed.) Your womb..is empty, clean, lying silent, ready and waiting, never forgetting what it is meant to do when the time comes. b. Medicine. Of a disease, disorder, infection, or infectious agent: present but not (yet) producing symptoms or clinical signs; = latent adj. 4. Also: designating an asymptomatic carrier of a disease or infectious agent, and transmission by such carriers. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > symptom > [adjective] > without symptoms silent1621 occult1651 latent1665 latic1684 symptomless1886 larval1897 non-clinical1913 subclinical1916 asymptomatic1932 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy ii. i. iv. i. 299 Many of them to get a fee, will giue Physick to euery one that comes, when there is no cause, and so irritare silentem morbum, as Hernius complaines, stirre vp a silent disease which often fals out, which by good counsell alone, good advice alone might haue bin composed. 1792 J. Barlow Advice Privileged Orders (ed. 2) I. ii. 57 It likewise performs the office of silent disease and of unperceived decay; where we may contemplate it as a canker corroding the vitals of the moral world. 1876 W. Stokes Lect. Fever xx. 146 In the first [category] it may be said that the local disease is silent. 1928 W. Overend Radiogr. of Chest II. iv. 49 There are two forms of silent pneumonia: a hilar which does not reach the pleura; and a cortical which does not reach the hilum. 1951 Nature 30 June 1061/1 The presence of latent or ‘silent’ viruses in plants and other organisms is not, of course, new. 1979 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts 127 171/2 We have had no great disease problem associated with them as yet but I have a feeling that the natural host is often a silent carrier. 2020 Los Angeles Times 27 Feb. (Nexis) The news of potential silent transmission does not eliminate the possibility of containing the virus [sc. coronavirus Covid-19] in the U.S. and preventing an outbreak. †c. Of the moon: not visible, at or near new moon. Obsolete. ΚΠ a1646 J. Gregory Posthuma (1649) 202 The most easie deliverie..is alwaies in the increas, toward and in the full of the Moon, and the hardest labors in the new and silent Moon. a1727 I. Newton Observ. Prophecies Daniel (1733) i. xi. 160 The Jews referred all the time of the silent moon, as they phrased it, that is, of the moon's disappearing, to the old moon. a1822 P. B. Shelley With Guitar in Fraser's Mag. (1833) Jan. 79 The silent moon, In her interlunar swoon. d. Of a distilled spirit: possessing no flavour.Silent spirits are thoroughly distilled, removing the flavour of the source of fermentation, and are cheaper than spirits that are not distilled in this way and so may be blended with them (see e.g. quot. 1904). ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > insipidity > [adjective] wallowc897 smatchless?c1225 unsavoury?c1225 fresha1398 savourlessa1398 wearish1398 wershed1398 fond?c1430 unsavoured1435 palled1440 mildc1450 walsh1513 wallowish1548 dead1552 waterish1566 cold1585 flatten1594 seasonless1595 wersha1599 blown1600 flash1601 fatuous1608 tasteless1611 flat1617 insipid1620 ingustable1623 flashy1625 flatted1626 saltless1633 gustless1636 remiss1655 rheumatical1655 untasteable1656 vapid1656 exolete1657 distasted1662 vappous1673 insulse1676 toothless1679 mawkisha1697 intastable1701 waugh1703 impoignant1733 flavourless1736 instimulating1740 deadish1742 mawky1755 brineless1791 wishy-washy1791 keestless1802 shilpit1814 wish-washy1814 sapidless1821 silent1826 slushy1839 bland1878 spendsavour1879 wish-wash1896 dolled1917 spiceless1980 the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > [adjective] > flavourless silent1826 1826 Scotsman 11 Mar. 156/3 As he intends to continue on Grain only for a few weeks, he begs that those who may want a fine pure silent spirit would favour him with an early application. 1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 405 Well purified or clean spirits, such as the distillers call silent whiskey. 1904 Lancet 12 Nov. 1363/1 Three prosecutions against publicans for selling brandy adulterated with silent spirit. 2011 Indian Express (Nexis) 19 May The transport fees levied by the government was Rs 3 per litre of silent spirit for manufacturing Indian made foreign liquor. 6. Designating a group of people whose views remain unknown or unexpressed, esp. as contrasted with a more vocal or dominant group. Cf. silent majority n. 2. ΚΠ 1866 G. Meredith Let. 15 Jan. (1970) I. 326 Will bawlings in the street avail?.. They irritate the slumbering dominant party, without strengthening the insurgent. What is being done in the Fortnightly, for instance..does strengthen, while it increases the silent band. 1935 H. Heslop Last Cage Down (1984) i. xviii. 150 The mass of silent men who paid their trade union dues because it was the right and proper thing to do and left it at that. 2007 National Post (Canada) (Nexis) 16 Apr. a6 It was mainly the silent masses that allowed horrendous crimes to take place. 7. Molecular Biology. a. Of a mutation: that does not result in a detectable phenotypic change, esp. in the structure of a protein; spec. that does not result in a change in the amino acid specified by a codon.Mutations in a codon that do not result in a change of amino acids are also called synonymous or same-sense. Contrasted with missense adj. ΚΠ 1963 Amer. Scientist June 241 Val/ala/glu/gly/arg/ser in tryptophan synthetase can be written as UUG/CUG/AUG/GUG/GCG/GCC/UCC, including a ‘silent’ mutation of GUG/GCG glycine. 1973 A. Alland Evol. Human Behavior (ed. 2) iii. 101 The analysis of hemoglobin has revealed several silent mutations. 1982 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79 1233/2 Seven of the 12 mutations are in noncoding regions, and 2 of the 5 mutations in coding sequences are silent. 2014 S. B. Prusiner Madness & Memory xii. 161 Besides coding and silent mutations, there are germline and somatic mutations. b. Of a gene: not functional; spec. not undergoing expression (transcription or translation). ΚΠ 1964 A. G. Motulsky in A. G. Steinberg & A. G. Bearn Progress Med. Genetics III. ii. 52 We have studied two additional patients with complete absence of pseudocholinesterase activity and presumably homozygous for the ‘silent’ gene. 1990 EMBO Jrnl. 9 2574/2 The artificial gene remains silent during the period of development when ftz is expressed. 2007 New Scientist 13 Jan. 29/2 If these ‘silent genes’ are somehow switched back on,..long-lost traits could reappear. B. n. 1. With the and plural agreement. Silent people as a class. ΚΠ 1569 E. Elviden Closet of Counsells f. 61^v By silence the discretion of the silent, thou mayst deme, And silence vsed in a foole doth make him witty seeme. 1783 F. Burney Evelina (new ed.) III. iii. 44 She has neither leisure nor thought to attend to the silent. 1963 Jrnl. Conflict Resol. 7 622/1 When a committee chairman announced that a measure under consideration shall be considered approved if no objection is heard, he has no way of measuring the dissent diffused among the silent. 2012 Newcastle (Austral.) Herald (Nexis) 12 Feb. 10 Still waters may run deep but it is at least as likely to be true that the silent are out of their depth. †2. The quietest part. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [noun] > silence > time of silent1595 1595 H. Roberts Pheander sig. G2 Grant me licence to issue out of the city with my companies, in the silent of y^e night. a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) i. iv. 17 Deepe Night, darke Night, the silent of the Night. View more context for this quotation †3. A device by which a clock, alarm, etc., can be prevented from striking or acting. Obsolete.Cf. earlier strike-or-silent n. at strike v. Compounds. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [noun] > silence > that which silences > silencer on clock or alarm silent1863 1863 R. S. Culley Handbk. Pract. Telegr. viii. 129 A switch of this kind attached to an alarum is called a ‘silent’. 4. A silent film (see sense A. 3e). Opposed to talkie n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > type of film > [noun] > silent Keystone1914 silent1928 1928 Montana Standard 31 Dec. 10/2 He has managed to make the best talkies, the best silents, the best directed talkies. 1931 B. Brown Talking Pictures xi. 289 Over-acting for silents was accepted as natural. 1977 ‘J. le Carré’ Honourable Schoolboy xvii. 404 Even the latest films up here are silents. 2019 Australian (Nexis) 18 May 4 The Cheaters was shot as a silent film, although talkies had begun to replace silents after the success of The Jazz Singer in 1927. 5. Frequently with capital initial. A member of the Silent Generation (Silent Generation n. at Compounds 2). ΚΠ 1958 Bucknell Rev. (Lewisburg, Pa.) 7 219 Wilbur's contemporaries are called the ‘beat’ generation..and the ‘silent’ generation... The two epithets, however, suggest different wings of this generation, the ‘beats’ being noisier and inclining toward Bohemia and the West, the ‘silents’ toward the academy and the East. 1995 M. Regele & M. Schulz Death of Church xi. 121 A close colleague..is a silent. We asked him one day to reflect on his generation. 2008 K. W. Gronbach Age Curve vii. 60 Unlike the GI Generation and the Silents who emulated them, Boomers don't spend wisely. 6. A setting on a mobile phone or other electronic device which disables the ringtone and other sounds, and typically activates an alternative form of alert such as a vibration. Esp. in on silent. Cf. silent mode n. at Compounds 2. ΚΠ 1984 Finding Company Intelligence (Washington Researchers) ii. 64 Will they..feel comfortable in keeping their pager on ‘silent’ or in choosing not to respond immediately to a page? 1997 T. Clancy & M. Greenberg Politika xxxix. 297 He had a cell phone clipped to his belt, its ringer set to Silent, but he felt the vibration in the small of his back. 2017 Commentary Nov. 51/2 Students..were told to put their phones on silent and out of sight. Phrases P1. as silent as the grave and variants: refraining from or not making any sound; (of a person) discreet, secretive; (of a place) hushed, completely silent, esp. with an eerie or ominous atmosphere. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [adjective] > disposed to secrecy, secretive dernOE covert1340 secrec1385 secretc1440 mum1532 closec1540 whist1577 as silent as the grave1613 privatea1625 dark1650 uncommunicating1650 dry1681 uncommunicative1691 unexpansive1847 secretive1853 tight-lipped1876 cagey1909 zip-lipped1943 closet1948 coy1961 tight1977 the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [adjective] > silent > of places or times stillc1275 quieta1382 silent1559 as silent as the grave1613 cosh1803 soundless1816 voiceless1816 1613 H. Austin tr. Ovid Scourge of Venus sig. C^v As silent as the night they now do stand. 1657 A. Farindon XXX. Serm. ii. 275 Behold a man..dumb to all reproaches; and when injuries are loudest, as silent as the Grave, kissing the hand that strikes him. 1751 R. Schomberg Ietro-rhapsodia 10 So here all paus'd, and silent as the Tomb, Attend the Goddess to pronounce their Doom. 1825 Worcester Mag. & Hist. Jrnl. Oct. 13 Silent as the grave the column moved forward. 1829 W. Scott Jrnl. 1 July (1946) 89 The house..became silent as the grave. 1889 R. L. Stevenson Master of Ballantrae iii. 62 We..lowered ourselves softly into a skiff, and left that ship behind us as silent as the grave. 1936 W. S. Maugham Cosmopolitans 269 I will be as silent as the grave, but honestly I don't understand. What does it all mean? 1954 Shakespeare Q. 5 304 But no voice is raised in an antiphon for poor Ophelia, and the little cortege is as silent as death itself. 2015 Cape Times (Nexis) 17 Nov. Marius Fransman, leader of the ANC in the Western Cape, is also as silent as the grave about the case. †P2. Proverb. the silent sow eats up all the draff and variants: a quiet or cunning person ends up in the best position. Cf. still adj. 2c. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1640 H. Mill Nights Search viii. 44 The sow that's silent, eates up all the draffe. 1828 E. Bulwer-Lytton Pelham II. xxiv. 238 The silent sow sups all the broth. 1855 T. C. Haliburton Nature & Human Nature I. vii. 201 The silent pig is the best feeder. 1922 L. Crowninsheild Bacon Reminisc. ii. 27 He once described Uncle Charles as ‘this doctor fellow, he sits still and does not speak like the “silent sow he sucks all the swill”’, not a very refined description, but an apt one. P3. to fall silent: to stop speaking or making noise; to become silent. Hence: to cease operating. ΚΠ 1659 W. Chamberlayne Pharonnida i. iii. sig. D3 Since the innocent Are staind with guilt, when in contempt of Fate They silent fal. 1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity iii, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 488 The Winds fall silent; and the Waves decrease. 1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) ii. v. 359 He fell silent; and after looking about the ceiling again, for a little while, looked down at her. 1928 Scotsman 10 Nov. 10/2 It is ten years since the Armistice was signed and the guns fell silent. 1976 Times 7 May 16/4 Suddenly the room fell silent and there rose to his feet the lugubrious figure of Christmas Humphreys, QC. 2019 Metro (Scotl. ed.) (Nexis) 13 May 29 British manufacturing began to decline and the factories fell silent. P4. there is a time to speak and a time to be silent: see time n., int., and conj. Phrases 6a. Compounds C1. a. Modifying participles, with the sense ‘in a silent way’, as in silent-falling, silent-sliding, silent-working, etc. (adjectives). ΚΠ 1596 C. Fitzgeffry Sir Francis Drake sig. F3 Like as some travel-tired passenger, By silent-sliding Thames rose-shadow'd side..Sits downe to view the sight-reviving slide. ?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xv. 35 Thou Flood, whose silent-gliding waues, the vnder ground doth beare. 1728 J. Thomson Spring 45 Like silent-working Heaven, surprizing oft The lonely Heart with unexpected Good. 1820 J. Keats Lamia ii, in Lamia & Other Poems 36 Wherefore flout The silent-blessing fate, warm cloister'd hours. 1868 J. H. Newman Verses Var. Occasions 157 I will..view Each shrivelling stalk and silent-falling leaf. 2004 Sunday Tasmanian (Nexis) 3 Oct. 32 Even the handsome kitchen..is filled with silent-sliding mini panels that hide clutter from view. b. Forming adjectives with the sense ‘that has silent or nimble ——’ by combining with a noun + -ed, as in silent-footed, silent-winged, etc. ΚΠ 1757 W. Thompson Poems Several Occasions 75 Soft as the silent-footed Dews That steal upon the Starlight-Hours. 1835 Introd. Study Birds (Religious Tract Soc.) 76 Unexpectedly seized by this silent-winged marauder. 1895 ‘C. Holland’ My Japanese Wife 11 A white cat flits ghost-like and silent-footed across the path. 1910 Better Fruit Oct. 32/3 So fierce was the onslaught of Old King Frost and his silent-fingered scavengers. 2004 Weekend Austral. (Nexis) 28 Aug. (Travel section) c4 Everything is discretion itself: quiet taps on doors, silent-footed porters, names of celebrity guests whispered never quite aloud. C2. silent earthquake n. (a) a major disturbance, upheaval, emotional event, etc., whose occurrence is apparent only to the person affected; (b) Geology a fracture or displacement of the earth's crust in which energy release is too slow (over a span of hours to months) to be perceived. ΚΠ 1681 J. Dryden Spanish Fryar ii. 19 That fearfull Love which trembled in his Eyes; and, with a silent Earthquake, shook his Soul. 1883 Outing Nov. 142/2 My enjoyment of..[these speculations] ended as if shocked by a silent earthquake, when two young ladies came out of the chemical-room and met me. 1957 T. McGrath Gates of Ivory 94 It should have been his own office building, but it wasn't... There was no door where there should have been one and for a moment he felt again an upsetness, as if reality had shifted, a silent earthquake of number and identity. 1974 Nature 25 Jan. 188/1 If the volume change which preceded the release of the short period energy were insufficient to initiate the shear melting instability, then such a 'silent earthquake' would most likely remain unreported. 2014 Observer (Nexis) 7 Sept. 20 A glimmer of hope comes in the recent discovery that some large earthquakes are preceded by strange ‘silent earthquakes’ that scientists call slow slip events. Silent Generation n. (also with lower-case initials) the generation of people born before that of the baby boomers (roughly from the mid 1920s to the mid 1940s), perceived as tending towards conformism, a reluctance to discuss political issues, and restraint in their behaviour or outlook. ΚΠ 1951 Time 5 Nov. 46/1 The most startling fact about the younger generation is its silence... It does not issue manifestoes, make speeches, or carry posters. It has been called ‘The Silent Generation’. 1990 W. J. Bouwsma Usable Past iii. xvi. 349 The gentle complaint of our editor..hinted at the charge of dullness brought by bored professors against their boring students of the silent generation. 2016 MailOnline (Nexis) 15 Sept. When asked for their specific view on each topic only the Silent Generation was more conservative that [sic] Generation Z. silent heat n. Veterinary Medicine ovulation occurring without the typical behavioural and physical signs of oestrus; an instance of this. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > animal body > general parts > sexual organs and reproduction > [noun] > mating > rut > silent heat silent heat1932 1932 W. Orr & F. F. Darling Physiol. & Genetical Aspects Sterility Domest. Animals 26 The more prolonged absence of normal heat occurs in endometritic animals in which ovulation may take place, quite frequently associated with ‘silent’ heat. 1950 N. Barron Dairy Farmer's Vet. Bk. vi. 65 Cows sometimes have short and possibly ‘silent’ heats that pass unnoticed, when the ovary produces the egg but the cow does not show any outward sign of being in season. 2018 K. A. Houpt Domest. Animal Behaviour (ed. 6) iv. 109 One reason for silent heat may be related to the fact that mares do show mate preferences. silent highway n. now chiefly historical a navigable river or canal.Esp. used of the River Thames. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > [noun] > river floodc825 streamc875 eaeOE water streamOE flumec1175 fleamc1300 riverc1300 currentc1380 reea1500 ford1563 fluent1598 draught1601 nymph1605 amnic1623 flux1637 nullah1656 R1692 currency1758 silent highway1841 the world > the earth > water > body of water > channel of water > [noun] > navigable waterway waterwaya1387 fosse1601 riverway1701 navigation1720 navigation branch1778 silent highway1841 igarape1853 seaway1921 cruiseway1967 1841 ‘F. Summerly’ Hand-bk. Hampton Court 7 The right royal road to Hampton Court is by the ‘silent highway’ of the Thames. 1875 Birmingham Daily Mail 5 Mar. 2/5 I speculate on the incalculable good that a ‘Home’ would do in rescuing girl-babies of the silent highway from the unwomanly scenes of their wasted young lives. 1935 Times 28 Feb. 14/2 This Cinderella of the bridges that span London's silent highway. 2018 @SirWilliamD 5 Mar. in twitter.com (accessed 31 July 2019) Boatman with his dog on the Grand Union Canal, one of London's silent highways. silent killer n. a disease or disorder, or a biological, chemical, or physical agent, that is capable of causing death without first producing noticeable or recognizable symptoms. ΚΠ 1931 Kentucky Advocate 9 Dec. 2/1 You can help stave off this Silent Killer [sc. Tuberculosis] and prevent it reaping a tremendous toll, if you will only buy Christmas seals. 1958 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 58 236/1 Carbon monoxide is a silent killer which claims many lives each year. 2007 Independent 20 Apr. 14/2 Known as the ‘silent killer’ because it is symptomless but deadly, high blood pressure can damage major organs and lead to heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and dementia. Silent Land n. (also with lower-case initials) allusive the afterlife; cf. silence n. 2b. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > deity > heaven > [noun] > future state other worldOE worldOE everlastingnessa1382 futurity1741 other sidea1822 happy hunting-ground(s)1826 Silent Land1826 1826 Christian Reformer Dec. 468 We are all travelling fast to the silent land which is peopled with our fathers, our kindred and our friends. 1853 Working Man's Way in World xiv. 320 (heading) Parents and friends in the Silent Land. 1939 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Ingleside xxvii. 186 Ah well, Anne dearie, they've both passed long since into the Silent Land. 2018 @ayoola_imran 26 Nov. in twitter.com (accessed 31 July 2019) Still can't believe you've gone to the silent land. I received your sudden death with deep sense of sadness. silent mode n. a setting on a mobile phone or other electronic device which disables the ringtone and other sounds, and typically activates an alternative form of alert such as a vibration. ΚΠ 1974 Great Bend (Kansas) Tribune 28 Apr. a25/5 ‘Silent’ paging is..offered by the company. This means that instead of hearing an alerting ‘beep’ or tone, the subscriber may switch to silent mode and when he is called, he will feel only a vibration. 2017 K. Kwan Rich People Probl. iii. i. 214 My phone began to vibrate on silent mode. silent partner n. a partner who invests in a business but is not involved in its management; = sleeping partner n. at sleeping adj. 5a. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > businessman > [noun] > partner > types of partner sleeping partner1785 latent partner1791 principal1806 special partner1811 silent partner1818 limited partner1824 sleeper1901 limited1953 1818 National Advocate (N.Y.) 4 Feb. A Gentleman being perfectly master of a lucrative business, is desirous of obtaining an active or silent partner—the capital required need not exceed 2000 dols. 2007 S. Worboyes Lipstick & Powder x. 192 His attention was grabbed straight away...Thought it was an excellent project. We got talking and he asked if I was looking for a silent partner. silent service n. (also with upper-case initials) Navy colloquial (with the) the navy; (in later use also) spec. (originally U.S.) the submarine service.In early use probably not a fixed collocation. [With reference to the silent defensive vigilance of a navy or (in later use) a submarine fleet (operating undetected).] ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > navy > [noun] > the British navy the king's (also queen's) navya1382 Royal Navy1583 the navy royal1601 the fleet1712 RN?1791 the senior service1899 silent service1904 1904 W. C. H. Wood Fight for Canada pref. p. xviii Do justice to the great silent service of the sea. 1943 N.Y. Times 28 Feb. e1/7 She was only the fourth United States submarine lost in Pacific combat. The other craft of the ‘silent service’..have accounted for 130 Japanese ships sunk. 1982 Daily Tel. 2 June 16/3 The Army learned certain lessons in Northern Ireland. The silent service did not share that experience. 2019 States News Service (Nexis) 9 Dec. As so often with the Silent Service, it's hard for those of us above the waves to know what really happened. silent spring n. (also with upper-case initials) a spring in which there is no birdsong as a result of changes in or damage to the natural environment, esp. that caused by toxic chemicals, leading to a decline in bird populations; (more generally) the state of having a thoroughly polluted or damaged natural environment.Used with allusion to the title of the work by Rachel L. Carson (see quot. 1962). ΚΠ 1962 R. L. Carson (title) Silent spring. 1970 N.Y. Times 12 June 38 The Caspian Sea is probably the most dramatic battle-ground of Soviet Russia's looming silent spring and to date this battle is being lost to oil, petroleum products, industrial and city sewage, ballast and waste from ships. 1970 N.Y. Times 27 June 28 If we don't develop suitable pesticides—and use them—we really will have Silent Spring because there won't be any trees left for the birds to sing in. 2019 Lake Cowichan (Brit. Columbia) Gaz. (Nexis) 14 Mar. (Final ed.) Given the worrisome loss of insect life due to the world-wide use of pesticides, I've joined the ranks who aim to avoid a Silent Spring. silent system now historical (with the) a prison system in which prisoners must be silent at all times and are prohibited from communicating with others, sometimes also involving hard labour, monotonous tasks, or solitary confinement.The silent system is also referred to as the Auburn system or the New York system, as it evolved in Auburn Prison in New York. It is often contrasted with the separate system (see separate confinement at separate adj. 2b). Although both systems enforced complete silence, the silent system required prisoners to do hard labour or boring, monotonous tasks alongside one another during the day. Under the separate system, prisoners were kept in complete isolation in solitary confinement during the day and night on the premise that this would allow them to reflect on their offences and repent. The silent system is particularly associated with the 19th cent., although variations of it still existed under this name in the 20th cent. (see e.g. quot. 1977). ΚΠ 1834 Hampshire Advertiser & Salisbury Guardian 11 Jan. All the prisoners who have been liberated express themselves in terms of unqualified horror at the enforcement of the silent system. 1977 Winnipeg Free Press 19 Feb. 38/1 We've gone from the silent system of the 50s, where under no circumstances were you allowed to hold a conversation with a prison guard, to the system of today. 2013 Isis 104 831/1 But silence can also be used to break people as part of the exercise of power; consider the ‘silent system’ of prison care in the nineteenth century. silent trade n. historical a system of trade in which goods are exchanged without the parties encountering each other.In this system of trade, the first party leaves goods in a specific location and then withdraws. A second party then leaves the goods it wishes to exchange in the same location and withdraws. If the first party agrees to the trade, it takes the goods offered by the second party, before the second party returns and takes those offered by the first party. If the first party does not accept the exchange, it leaves the goods and withdraws again to allow the second party to alter its offer.This system of trade is popularly attributed to traders in West Africa, but the existence of such a practice is disputed (see e.g. quot. 2007). ΚΠ 1899 M. H. Kingsley W. Afr. Stud. x. 220 (heading) Concerning the accounts given by classic writers of West Africa, and of the method of barter called the Silent Trade. 2007 Jrnl. Afr. Hist. 48 396 Farias showed that the ‘silent trade’ was not a fact but a topos that kept resurfacing in Arabic, Portuguese and other sources after the ninth century. silent trap n. Contract Bridge (now rare) a strategy of not bidding despite having a sufficiently strong hand, in order to mislead one's opponents. ΚΠ 1920 Illustr. Sporting & Dramatic News 17 Jan. 702/3 It is very much nicer to have your opponents' score at love, because then if you keep quite quiet they will sometimes egg each other into an overcall, in the belief that you have nothing in your hand. This is what I call the Silent Trap. 1931 A. E. M. Foster Auction Bridge made Clear 119 When the opponents are saying ‘No bid’ they are not necessarily void of high cards. They may be willing to leave the bidders alone while the contract is under the game line, but quite prepared to step in with a punishing double if the game is bid. This is known as the ‘Silent Trap’. 1935 Western Mail (Perth, Austral.) 10 Oct. 28/5 South thought that as North had called third in hand it was very probably psychic, and East may have been setting a silent trap to get a bigger penalty. 1999 Times 29 Nov. 55/1 The silent trap by the wife of the partnership who was only interested in slams and penalties. silent treatment n. (a) treatment with silence, rather than comment; the tactic of ignoring an issue, accusation, etc., instead of responding or reacting to it (now rare); (b) (chiefly with the) the stubborn refusal to talk to or engage with a person, esp. because of a recent disagreement or as a means of showing annoyance or disapproval; chiefly in to give (a person) the silent treatment, to get the silent treatment. ΚΠ 1825 Edinb. Jrnl. Sci. 2 334 The necessity of repelling a charge, which, had it come from any other quarter, would have received that silent treatment which it merits. 1866 A. White Leander Hall (ed. 2) xv. 170 He thought his daughter had erred, but..would force her into right by silent treatment. 1907 Independent 12 Sept. 592/2 The cadets..have given him the ‘silent treatment’. They have done nothing to him, simply not spoken to him, treating him with contempt. 1962 A. Valentine Ld. George Germain xix. 276 The Ministry doubtless hoped that, given silent treatment, the Whig diatribes would soon wear out..their audience. 1992 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 18 Oct. 9/3 You can tell when she's angry with you. You either get hollered at or get the silent treatment. 2004 J. Burchill Sugar Rush (2005) 208 If I hadn't been giving her the silent treatment because of my hurt pride, she'd never have even gone off with this psycho. silent whistle n. (also silent dog whistle) a high-frequency whistle producing a note audible to a dog but scarcely or not at all audible to a person. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping dogs or cats > [noun] > keeping or affinity with dogs > place to exercise hounds > collars, leads, etc. linea1000 collar1377 torretc1386 dog collar1485 doghook1528 terret1530 slip1564 dogwhip1583 trash1611 shangan1787 puzzle-peg1789 puzzle1792 shangy1825 leading-strap1856 nosepiece1865 dog tag1882 lead1893 harness1895 silent whistle1923 standing iron1934 1923 Daily Mail 12 Apr. 8/5 There is..the ‘silent’ dog-whistle which calls a four-footed friend 100 yards away yet cannot be heard by the man you are walking with. 1965 D. Francis For Kicks xiii. 173 That's a silent whistle... For dogs... You can't hear it very well..but of course a dog can. 2016 Dorset Echo (Nexis) 11 May The owner had a silent whistle and had been using it to call the pooch back to shore. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2020; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.n.a1425
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