From Latin silēns, present participle of sileō ("be silent"), from Proto-Indo-European *seyl-.

• IPA: /ˈsaɪlənt/

silent (comparative silenter, superlative silentest)

1. Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.
   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene i]:

     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, 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.
   • 1725–1726, Homer, “(please specify the book or chapter of the Odyssey)”, in [William Broome, Elijah Fenton, and Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC ↗:

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

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:

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

3. Keeping at rest; inactive; calm; undisturbed.
   • a. 1718, Thomas Parnell, Hesiod; or, the Rise of Woman:

     The winds were silent, all the waves asleep, / And heaven was trac'd upon the flattering deep

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

   The e is silent in fable.

   Silent letters can make some words difficult to spell.

   The “l” in the English word "salmon" is silent.

5. Having no effect; not operating; inefficient.
   • 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC ↗, (please specify |book=1 to 5):

     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. (genetics) 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

• silence
• silentiary
• silentious

• French: silencieux, (verb "to be silent") se 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
• Russian: беззву́чный

• Italian: muto, 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 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [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

silent (plural silents)

1. (chiefly, in the plural) A member of the Silent Generation.
   • 2021 October 14, Joe Pinsker, “’Gen Z’ Only Exists in Your Head”, in The Atlantic‎^{[https://web.archive.org/web/20230913000345/https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/10/millennials-gen-z-boomers-generations-are-fake/620390/]}, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN ↗, →OCLC ↗, archived from the original ↗ on 2023-09-13:

     In a somewhat bizarre set of survey data from 2015, 33 percent of Millennials identified as Gen X, and 8 percent said that they were Boomers. Fifteen percent of Gen Xers said that they identified as Boomers, while a baffled 2 percent of Boomers and 4 percent of Silents thought of themselves as Millennials.