English Explanatory Dictionary

silence

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The absence of any sound.
  2. The act of refraining from speaking.
  3. Refraining from speaking, for purposes of prayer or meditation; especially, a form of worship practiced by the Society of Friends (Quakers) during meetings.
verb
  1. To make (someone or something) silent.
  2. To repress the expression of something.
  3. To suppress criticism, etc.
  4. To block gene expression.
  5. To murder.
intj
  1. Be silent.
name
  1. A female given name from English.

Pronunciation

/ˈsaɪl(ə)ns/ /ˈsaɪləns/ En-us-silence.ogg

Word forms

silence silences silencing silenced

Etymology

From Middle English silence, from Old French silence, from Latin silentium (“silence”), from silēns (“quiet, silent”, present participle of silēre) + -ium. Displaced native Old English swīġe and sālnes.

Synonyms

inaudibility quietness black noise crickets hush noiselessness quiet roo silence stillness soundlessness whistness mute be quiet shush shut up whist

Antonyms

audibility loudness vocality sound speech talk

Related words

silent code of silence cone of silence conspiracy of silence omertà one could hear a pin drop quiet as a mouse Sicilian code silent as the grave silent as the tomb wall of silence be quiet make silent stop talking quiet noise loud deaf audible

Derived words

argument from silence blue code of silence blue wall of silence break silence break the silence code of silence cone of silence conspiracy of silence dead silence deafening silence in silence moment of silence nonsilence right to silence pact of silence radio silence silence camp silence is consent silence is golden silence is oppression silence is violence speech is silver, silence is golden suffer in silence tower of silence two-minute silence wall of silence desilence nonsilencing outsilence resilence silenceable silencer unsilence

Translations

Afrikaans: stilswye Bulgarian: мълчание Dutch: zwijgen Finnish: vaikeneminen Finnish: hiljeneminen German: Schweigen Greek: σιωπή Hungarian: hallgatás Hungarian: hallgatni Macedonian: мо́лчење Spanish: sho
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on S Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary