sordino

sor·di·no

S0569100 (sôr-dē′nō)n. pl. sor·di·ni (-nē) Music A mute for an instrument.

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[Italian, diminutive of sordo, deaf, mute, from Latin surdus.]

sordino

(sɔːˈdiːnəʊ) n, pl -ni (-niː) 1. (Instruments) a mute for a stringed or brass musical instrument2. (Instruments) any of the dampers that arrest the vibrations of piano strings3. (Classical Music) con sordino con sordini a musical direction to play with a mute4. (Classical Music) senza sordino senza sordini a musical direction to remove or play without the mute or (on the piano) with the sustaining pedal pressed down[Italian: from sordo deaf, from Latin surdus]

mute

(myut)

adj. mut•er, mut•est, adj. 1. silent; refraining from speech or utterance. 2. not emitting or having sound of any kind. 3. incapable of speech. 4. (of letters) silent; not pronounced. 5. Law. (of a person who has been arraigned) making no plea or refusing to stand trial: to stand mute. n. 6. a person who does not speak, esp. one who, because of congenital deafness, has never learned to speak. 7. Law. a person who stands mute when arraigned. 8. a mechanical device for muffling the tone of a musical instrument. 9. stop (def. 37). v.t. 10. to deaden or muffle the sound of. 11. to reduce the intensity of (a color) by the addition of another color. [1375–1425; Middle English muet < Middle French, assimilated, in the 16th century, to Latin mūtus mute] mute′ly, adv. mute′ness, n. usage: See dumb.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

sordino - a mute for a violin sourdinemute - a device used to soften the tone of a musical instrument