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dumbness

noun

Etymology

From Middle English dombenesse, from Old English dumbnes; equivalent to dumb + -ness. Cognate with Old Frisian dumbnisse (“folly, dumbness”).

  1. inherited from dumbnes
  2. inherited from dombenesse

Definitions

  1. The state of being mute

    The state of being mute: that is, of not communicating vocally, whether from selective mutism (refusal to speak) or from an inability to speak.

    • He was a deaf-mute. His dumbness did not seem to matter when we were boys.

  2. Muteness, silence

    Muteness, silence; abstention from speech.

    • There was speech in their dumbness.

  3. Show or gesture without words

    Show or gesture without words; pantomime; dumb-show.

    • To the dumbness of the gesture one might interpret.
  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. The quality of being stupid or foolish.

The neighborhood

Derived

artificial dumbness

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for dumbness. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA