MUTE SWAN • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Mute swan

Mute adj.

Not speaking; uttering no sound; silent. "All the heavenly choir stood mute, And silence was in heaven." Note: In law a prisoner is said to stand mute, when, upon being arranged, he makes no answer, or does not plead directly, or will not put himself on trial.

Incapable of speaking; dumb.

Not uttered; unpronounced; silent; also, produced by complete closure of the mouth organs which interrupt the passage of breath; said of certain letters. See 5th Mute, 2.

Not giving a ringing sound when struck; said of a metal.

Mute swan (Zool.), a European wild white swan (Cygnus olor syn. Cygnus gibbus), which produces no loud notes, in distinction from the Trumpeter swan.

Synonyms: Silent; dumb; speechless. Mute, Silent, Dumb. One is silent who does not speak; one is dumb who can not, for want of the proper organs; as, a dumb beast, etc.; and hence, figuratively, we speak of a person as struck dumb with astonishment, etc. One is mute who is held back from speaking by some special cause; as, he was mute through fear; mute astonishment, etc. Such is the case with most of those who never speak from childhood; they are not ordinarily dumb, but mute because they are deaf, and therefore never learn to talk; and hence their more appropriate name is deaf-mutes. "They spake not a word; But, like dumb statues, or breathing stones, Gazed each on other." "All sat mute, Pondering the danger with deep thoughts."