• IPA: /ˈsaɪlənt/

silent (comparative silenter, superlative silentest)

1. Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.
   • 1604, William Shakespeare, Othello, act 5, scene 1:

     How silent is this town!

   • 1825, Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy, The Works of Samuel Johnson, Talboys and Wheeler, page 52:

     What was formerly performed by fleets and armies, by invasions, sieges, and battles, has been of late accomplished by more silent methods.

   • 1906, William Dean Howells and Sidney Dillon Ripley, Certain Delightful English Towns: With Glimpses of the Pleasant Country Between, Harper & Brothers, page 152:

     The voice of the auctioneer is slow and low […] ; after a pause, which seems no silenter than the rest of the transaction, he ceases to repeat the bids, and his fish, in the measure of a bushel or so, have gone for a matter of three shillings.

2. Not speaking; indisposed to talk; speechless; mute; taciturn; not loquacious; not talkative.

   • Ulysses, adds he, was the most eloquent and most silent of men.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book 4”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708 ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554 ↗:

     This new-created world, whereof in hell / Fame is not silent.

3. Keeping at rest; inactive; calm; undisturbed.

   The wind is silent.

4. (pronunciation) Not pronounced; having no sound; quiescent.

   The e is silent in fable.

   Silent letters can make some words difficult to spell.

5. Having no effect; not operating; inefficient.

   • Cause […] silent, virtueless, and dead.

6. (technology) With the sound turned off; usually on silent or in silent mode.

   My phone was on silent.

7. (technology) Without audio capability.

   The Magnavox Odyssey was a silent console.

8. Hidden, unseen.

   a silent voter; a silent partner

9. Of an edit or change to a text, not explicitly acknowledged.

   silent revisions; a silent emendation

10. Not implying significant modifications which would affect a peptide sequence.
11. Undiagnosed or undetected because of an absence of symptoms.
12. Of distilled spirit: having no flavour or odour.

• (free from sound or noise) quiet; see also Thesaurus:silent
• (not speaking; indisposed to talk) speechless, taciturn; see also Thesaurus:taciturn
• (not speaking; mute) dumb, mute; see also Thesaurus:mute
• (keeping at rest) dormant, still; see also Thesaurus:inactive
• (not pronounced) mute, quiescent, servile
• (hidden; unseen) concealed, invisible, occluded; see also Thesaurus:hidden

• French: silencieux, (verb "to be silent") taire
• German: still, (verb "to be silent") schweigen
• Italian: silenzioso
• Portuguese: silencioso
• Russian: ти́хий
• Spanish: silencioso, callar (verb "to be silent")

• French: silencieux, muet
• German: schweigsam
• Italian: muto, silenzioso
• Portuguese: silencioso, quieto
• Russian: молчали́вый

• German: still
• Italian: silente, tranquillo

• French: muet
• German: stumm
• Portuguese: silencioso
• Russian: непроизноси́мый

• German: lautlos, leise, stumm

• Italian: silenzioso
• Portuguese: mudo

• French: silencieux
• Italian: silenzioso
• Portuguese: silencioso
• Spanish: silencioso

• French: silencieux
• Italian: silenzioso
• Portuguese: silencioso
• Spanish: silencioso

silent (plural silents)

1. (uncountable) That which is silent; a time of silence.
   • 1591, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene iv]:

     Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night.

2. A silent movie

• Italian: silenzio
• Portuguese: silêncio

silent (uncountable)

1. Acronym of syndrome of irreversible lithium-effectuated neurotoxicity