said of a letter: appearing in the spelling of a word but not pronounced

The ‘b’ of ‘lamb’ is mute

a person who cannot or does not speak

a device attached to a musical instrument to reduce, soften, or muffle its tone

in law, a person who refuses to plead

formerly, a hired mourner

esp formerly, a mime actor

= stop² (5)

to muffle or reduce the sound of (e.g. a musical instrument)

to tone down (a colour, etc)