Silent

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: si=lent

CIDE DICTIONARY

Silent, a. [L. silens, -entis, p. pr. of silere to be silent; akin to Goth. ana-silan.].

•  Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.  [1913 Webster]

  "How silent is this town!"  [1913 Webster]
•  Not speaking; indisposed to talk; speechless; mute; taciturn; not loquacious; not talkative.  [1913 Webster]

  "Ulysses, adds he, was the most eloquent and most silent of men."  [1913 Webster]

  "This new-created world, whereof in hell
  Fame is not silent."  [1913 Webster]
•  Keeping at rest; inactive; calm; undisturbed; as, the wind is silent.  Parnell. Sir W. Raleigh.  [1913 Webster]
•  Not pronounced; having no sound; quiescent; as, e is silent in “fable.”  [1913 Webster]
•  Having no effect; not operating; inefficient.  [1913 Webster]

  "Cause . . . silent, virtueless, and dead."  [1913 Webster]

Silent partner. See Dormant partner, under Dormant.

Syn. -- Mute; taciturn; dumb; speechless; quiet; still. See Mute, and Taciturn.

Silent, n. 

 That which is silent; a time of silence.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Silent, adj.
1 not speaking; not uttering or making or accompanied by any sound.
2 (of a letter) written but not pronounced, e.g. b in doubt.
3 (of a film) without a synchronized soundtrack.
4 (of a person) taciturn; speaking little.
5 saying or recording nothing on some subject (the records are silent on the incident).
6 (of spirits) unflavoured.

Idiom

silent majority those of moderate opinions who rarely assert them. silent partner US = sleeping partner (see SLEEP).

Derivative

silently adv.

Etymology

L silere silent- be silent

THESAURUS

Silent

aphonic, brief, brusque, calm, checked, close, close-lipped, close-tongued, closemouthed, concise, curbed, curt, dumb, echoless, economical of words, hush as death, hushed, implicit, implied, inactive, inarticulate, inaudible, incoherent, indisposed to talk, inhibited, laconic, mousy, mum, mute, muted, noiseless, pacific, passive, peaceful, placid, quiescent, quiet, reserved, restrained, reticent, secretive, serene, short, sleeping, snug, soundless, sparing of words, speechless, still, still as death, stilly, subaudible, tacit, taciturn, terse, tight-lipped, tongue-tied, tranquil, unagitated, unarticulated, uncommunicative, undeclared, understood, undisturbed, unexpressed, unhearable, unloquacious, unmentioned, unproclaimed, unpronounced, unpublished, unrecorded, unruffled, unsaid, unsociable, unsounded, unspoken, unstated, unsung, untalkative, untalked-of, untold, untroubled, unuttered, unvocalized, unvoiced, unwritten, voiceless, whist, word-bound, wordless

ROGET THESAURUS

Silent

Aphony

N aphony, aphonia, dumbness, obmutescence, absence of voice, want of voice, dysphony, cacoepy, silence, raucity, harsh voice &c, unmusical voice, falsetto, childish treble mute, dummy, aphonous, dumb, mute, deafmute, deaf and dumb, mum, tongue-tied, breathless, tongueless, voiceless, speechless, wordless, mute as a fish, mute as a stockfish, mute as a mackerel, silent, muzzled, inarticulate, inaudible, croaking, raucous, hoarse, husky, dry, hollow, sepulchral, hoarse as a raven, rough, with bated breath, with the finger on the lips, sotto voce, in a low tone, in a cracked voice, in a broken voice, vox faucibus haesit.

Taciturnity

N taciturnity, silence, muteness, obmutescence, taciturnity, pauciloquy, costiveness, curtness, reserve, reticence, man of few words, silent, mute, mum, silent as a post, silent as a stone, silent as the grave, dumb, unconversable, taciturn, sparing of words, closetongued, costive, inconversable, curt, reserved, reticent, Int, shush!, tush!, silence!, mum!, hush!, chut!, hist!, tut!, chup!, mum's the word, keep your mouth shut!, cave quid dicis quando et cui, volto sciolto i pensieri stretti.

Quiescence

N quiescence, rest, stillness, quiescence, stagnation, stagnancy, fixity, immobility, catalepsy, indisturbance, quietism, quiet, tranquility, calm, repose, peace, dead calm, anticyclone, statue-like repose, silence, not a breath of air, not a mouse stirring, sleep, pause, lull, stand still, standing still, lock, dead lock, dead stop, dead stand, full stop, fix, embargo, resting place, gite, bivouac, home, pillow, haven, goal, quiescent, still, motionless, moveless, fixed, stationary, immotile, at rest at a stand, at a standstill, at anchor, stock, still, standing still, sedentary, untraveled, stay-at-home, becalmed, stagnant, quiet, unmoved, undisturbed, unruffled, calm, restful, cataleptic, immovable, sleeping, silent, still as a statue, still as a post, still as a mouse, still as death, vegetative, vegetating, at a stand, tout court, at the halt, Int, stop!, stay!, avast!, halt!, hold hard!, whoa!, hold!, sabr karo!, requiescat in pace, Deus nobis haec otia fecit, the noonday quiet holds the hill.

Silence

N silence, stillness, peace, hush, lull, muteness, solemn silence, awful silence, dead silence, deathlike silence, silent, still, stilly, noiseless, soundless, hushed, mute, soft, solemn, awful, deathlike, silent as the grave, inaudible, silently, sub silentio, Int, hush!, silence!, soft!, whist!, tush!, chut!, tut!, pax!, be quiet!, be silent!, be still!, shut up!, chup!, chup rao!, tace!, one might hear a feather drop, one might hear a pin drop, so quiet you could hear a pin drop, grosse Seelen dulden still, le silence est la vertu de ceux qui ne sont pas sa, le silence est le parti le plus sar de celui se d_, silence more musical than any song, tacent satis laudant, better to be silent and thought a fool than to spe.