muet

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French mut, muet, from Old French mu, mut, mui, from Latin mūtus, of Proto-Indo-European origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɥɛ/, /my.ɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

Adjective

muet (feminine muette, masculine plural muets, feminine plural muettes)

1. dumb (unable to talk)
2. silent, mute, unspeaking
3. (phonetics) silent, unvoiced, unspoken

   « Le » et « la » deviennent « l’ » devant une voyelle ou un « h » muet.

   Le and la become l' before a vowel or a silent "h".

Derived terms

• e muet
• h muet
• film muet
• muet comme une carpe
• muet comme une tombe

Related terms

• amuïr
• mutisme
• mutité

Noun

muet m (plural muets, feminine muette)

1. mute (person who does not have the power of speech)

Further reading

• “muet”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• émut, émût
• meut
• mute, muté

Middle English

Alternative forms

• mute, mywet, mewet, mwet, muyt, muett

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman muet; sometimes influenced by Latin mūtus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmiu̯ɛt/, /ˈmiu̯t/

Adjective

muet

1. Temporarily unable to speak (due to strong emotions or secrecy)
2. (rare) Mute; unable to speak or incapable of speech.
3. (rare) Silent; tending not to make noise.

Descendants

• English: mute
• Scots: mute

References

• “mūet, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-03.

Norman

Etymology

From Old French mu, from Latin mūtus.

Adjective

muet m

1. (Jersey) mute

Derived terms

• muettement (“mutely, silently”)