silentadj.n.
/ˈsʌɪlənt/, /ˈsʌɪln̩t/, U.S. /ˈsaɪlənt/ 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. Biiiiv 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.vjv 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.viv 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.viijv 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. 4Ov 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. † c. Of the moon: not visible, at or near new moon. Obsolete.
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. 68v 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.
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.† 2. The quietest part. Obsolete.† 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.
1. With the and plural agreement. Silent people as a class.
ΚΠ
1569 E. Elviden Closet of Counsells f. 61v 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.
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 ye 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
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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. Cv 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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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).
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adj.n.a1425