Etymograph

English

mute

Mute comes from Anglo-Norman muet.

  1. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400muet
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1667mute

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400muet
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1667mute

Earliest quotation: 1667, John Milton, Book III: “He ask’d, but all the Heav’nly Quire ſtood mute,…”

Every English word from Anglo-Norman muet

Another origin of mute

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600muetir
  2. Englishtodaymute

From Middle French muetir, probably a shortened form of esmeutir, ultimately from Proto-Germanic.

Another origin of mute

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*meyth₂-‘to exchange’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmutōas mutare‘to change’
  3. Englishtodaymute

Today it means

adj Not having the power of speech; dumb.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Anglo-Norman muet / mute

Shirt and support for this word