Standard Lemma guide

mutism

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈmjuːtɪzəm/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The inability to speak, be it from psychological or physical cause.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the condition of being unable or unwilling to speak

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • her muteness was a consequence of her deafness

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: muteness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: condition, status

Narrower terms: deaf-mutism, deaf-muteness

History

Etymology

From French mutisme, from Latin mutus (“mute”), equivalent to mute + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: немота (nemota) — psychological disorder
  • Catalan: mutisme — psychological disorder
  • Chinese Mandarin: 緘默症 /缄默症 (jiānmòzhèng) — psychological disorder
  • Czech: mutismus — psychological disorder
  • Dutch: mutisme — psychological disorder
  • Finnish: mutismi — psychological disorder
  • French: mutisme — psychological disorder
  • German: Mutismus — psychological disorder
  • Greek: αφωνία (afonía) — psychological disorder
  • Hungarian: mutizmus — psychological disorder
  • Italian: mutismo — psychological disorder
  • Japanese: 緘黙症 (kanmokushō) — psychological disorder
  • Japanese: 無言症 (mugonshō) — psychological disorder
  • Korean: 함묵증 (hammukjeung) — psychological disorder
  • Korean: 함구증 (hamgujeung) — psychological disorder
  • Korean: 무언증 (mueonjeung) — psychological disorder
  • Old English: dumbnes — psychological disorder
  • Polish: mutyzm — psychological disorder
  • Portuguese: mutismo — psychological disorder
  • Spanish: mutismo — psychological disorder
  • Spanish: mudez — psychological disorder
  • Swedish: mutism — psychological disorder