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MUTE (Lat. tnutus, dumb)

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 99 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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MUTE (Lat. tnutus, dumb)

MUTE (See also:
LAT
Lat. tnutus, dumb) , silent or incapable of speech. For the human See also:

PHYSICAL

physical incapacity see See also:

DEAF

DEAF AND DUMB. In See also:

PHONETICS (Gr. Davit, voice)

phonetics (q.v.) a "mute" See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

letter is one which (like p or g) represents no individual See also:

sound. The name of "mutes" is given, for obvious reasons, to the undertaker's assistants at a funeral. In See also:

MUSIC

music a "mute" (Ital. sordino, from Lat. surdus, deaf) is a See also:

DEVICE

device for deadening the sound in an See also:

INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

instrument by checking its vibrations. Its use is marked by the sign c.s. (See also:

con sordino), and its cessation by s.s. (senza sordino). In the See also:

case of the See also:

VIOLIN

violin and other stringed See also:

INSTRUMENTS

instruments this See also:

OBJECT

object is attained by the use of a piece of See also:

brass, See also:

wood or See also:

ivory, so shaped as to See also:

fit on the See also:

BRIDGE

bridge without touching the strings and hold it so tightly as to deaden or muffle the vibrations. In the case of brass See also:

wind instruments a See also:

leather, wooden or See also:

PAPIER

papier mache See also:

pad in the shape of a See also:

PEAR (Pyrus communis)

pear with a hole through it is placed in the See also:

bell of the instrument, by which the passage of the sound is impeded. The interference with the See also:

pitch of the instruments has led to the invention of elaborately constructed mutes. Players on the See also:

horn and See also:

trumpet frequently use the See also:

LEFT

left See also:

hand as a mute.

Drums are muted or "muffled" either by the pressure of the hand on the See also:

head, or by covering with See also:

CLOTH

cloth. In the See also:

side See also:

DRUM (early forms drome or dromme, a word common to many Teut. languages, cf. Dan. tromme, Ger. Trommel: the word is ultimately the same as " trumpet," and is probably onomatopoeic in origin; it appears late in Eng. about the middle of the 16th century)

drum this is effected by the insertion of pieces of cloth between the membrane and the "snares," or by loosening the "snares." The muting of a See also:

PIANOFORTE (Ital. piano, soft, and forte, loud)

pianoforte is obtained by the use of the soft-pedal.

End of Article: MUTE (Lat. tnutus, dumb)

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