What does Silence mean?
Definitions for Silence
ˈsaɪ lənsSi·lence
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word Silence.
Princeton's WordNet
silencenoun
the state of being silent (as when no one is speaking)
"there was a shocked silence"; "he gestured for silence"
silence, quietnoun
the absence of sound
"he needed silence in order to sleep"; "the street was quiet"
muteness, silencenoun
a refusal to speak when expected
"his silence about my contribution was surprising"
secrecy, secretiveness, silenceverb
the trait of keeping things secret
hush, quieten, silence, still, shut up, hush upverb
cause to be quiet or not talk
"Please silence the children in the church!"
silenceverb
keep from expression, for example by threats or pressure
"All dissenters were silenced when the dictator assumed power"
Wiktionary
silencenoun
The lack of any sound.
When the motor stopped, the silence was almost deafening.
Etymology: From silence.
silencenoun
Form of meditative worship practiced by the Society of Friends (Quakers); meeting for worship.
During silence a message came to me that there was that of God in every person.
Etymology: From silence.
silencenoun
The action of refraining from speaking.
"You have the right to silence," said the police officer.
Etymology: From silence.
silenceverb
To make something silent.
Can you silence the crowd, so we can start the show?
Etymology: From silence.
silenceverb
To suppress criticism etc.
Etymology: From silence.
silenceverb
To block gene expression.
Etymology: From silence.
silenceinterjection
be quiet
Etymology: From silence.
Webster Dictionary
Silencenoun
the state of being silent; entire absence of sound or noise; absolute stillness
Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]
Silencenoun
forbearance from, or absence of, speech; taciturnity; muteness
Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]
Silencenoun
secrecy; as, these things were transacted in silence
Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]
Silencenoun
the cessation of rage, agitation, or tumilt; calmness; quiest; as, the elements were reduced to silence
Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]
Silencenoun
absence of mention; oblivion
Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]
Silence
be silent; -- used elliptically for let there be silence, or keep silence
Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]
Silenceverb
to compel to silence; to cause to be still; to still; to hush
Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]
Silenceverb
to put to rest; to quiet
Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]
Silenceverb
to restrain from the exercise of any function, privilege of instruction, or the like, especially from the act of preaching; as, to silence a minister of the gospel
Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]
Silenceverb
to cause to cease firing, as by a vigorous cannonade; as, to silence the batteries of an enemy
Etymology: [F., fr. L. silentium. See Silent.]
Freebase
Silence
Silence is the lack of audible sound or presence of sounds of very low intensity. By analogy, the word silence can also refer to any absence of communication, including in media other than speech. Silence is also used as total communication, in reference to non verbal communication and spiritual connection. Silence also refers to no sounds uttered by anybody in a room or area. Silence is an important factor in many cultural spectacles, as in rituals. In discourse analysis, speakers use brief absences of speech to mark the boundaries of prosodic units. Silence in speech can be hesitation, stutters, self-correction—or deliberate slowing of speech to clarify or aid processing of ideas. These are short silences. Longer pauses in language occur in interactive roles, reactive tokens, or turn-taking. According to cultural norms, silence can be positive or negative. For example, in a Christian Methodist faith organization silence and reflection during the sermons might be appreciated by the congregation, while in a Southern Baptist church, silence might mean disagreement with what is being said, or perhaps disconnectedness from the congregated community.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Silence
sī′lens, n. state of being silent: absence of sound or speech: muteness: cessation of agitation: calmness: oblivion.—v.t. to cause to be silent: to put to rest: to stop.—interj. be silent!—adj. Sī′lent, free from noise: not speaking: habitually taciturn: still: not pronounced: of distilled spirit, without flavour or odour.—n. Silen′tiary, one who keeps order in an assembly.—adv. Sī′lently.—n. Sī′lentness=Silence. [L. silēre, to be silent.]
The Roycroft Dictionary
silence
A trick of the human gullet that conceals weakness or emptiness.
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
silence
To cause to cease firing by a vigorous cannonade; as, to silence the batteries of an enemy.
Suggested Resources
silence
Song lyrics by silence -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by silence on the Lyrics.com website.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'Silence' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1783
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'Silence' in Nouns Frequency: #812
Anagrams for Silence »
license, selenic
Selenic
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of Silence in Chaldean Numerology is: 7
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of Silence in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4
Examples of Silence in a Sentence
There are times when God asks nothing of his children except silence, patience and tears.
Hang out with wise people and you will realize that there is nothing better for man than silence.
Mr. Floyd died in our hands and so I see that as being complicit, silence and inaction, you're complicit. If there was one solitary voice that would have intervened... that's what I would have hoped for.
But it does fit a long-standing pattern in which proponents of war have engaged in extensive efforts to discredit and silence voices in favor of a diplomatic solution with Iran.
Music and silence combine strongly because music is done with silence, and silence is full of music.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for Silence
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- stilteAfrikaans
- صهٍ!, سكوت, صمت, صمتًا!, يجعلـ ... يصمت, الصمتArabic
- sükutAzerbaijani
- тынлыҡBashkir
- цішыня, маўчаннеBelarusian
- мълчание, тишинаBulgarian
- didrouzBreton
- silenciCatalan, Valencian
- ticho, utišit, mlčení, umlčetCzech
- тишинаOld Church Slavonic, Church Slavonic, Old Bulgarian
- tawelwch, distawrwyddWelsh
- tavshed, stilhedDanish
- zum Schweigen bringen, Schweigen, Ruhe!, StilleGerman
- σιωπή, σιγήGreek
- silentoEsperanto
- silencio, silenciar, cállate, hacer callarSpanish
- vaikusEstonian
- خاموشی, سکوتPersian
- hiljaisuus, hiljentää, äänettömyysFinnish
- tøgnFaroese
- silence, le silenceFrench
- tostIrish
- sàmhchair, tosdScottish Gaelic
- silencioGalician
- שקטHebrew
- ख़ामोशी, चुप्पीHindi
- csöndet!, csönd, csend legyen!, csend!, csendet!, csend, csönd legyen!, csönd!Hungarian
- լռությունArmenian
- DiamIndonesian
- silencoIdo
- þögn, þögn!, róIcelandic
- silenzioItalian
- שתיקהHebrew
- 静寂, 静けさ, 黙秘Japanese
- დუმილიGeorgian
- тыныштық, жайшылықKazakh
- ಮೌನKannada
- 침묵Korean
- بێدهنگKurdish
- silentiumLatin
- tylaLithuanian
- klusumsLatvian
- тишина, молчењеMacedonian
- tolong senyapMalay
- stillhetNorwegian
- zwijgen, stilte, stilzwijgen, stilte!Dutch
- hysj!, ro, roe, taushet, togn, stille!Norwegian
- geʼ, nizééʼNavajo, Navaho
- milczenie, ciszaPolish
- ګنګه روژه, چوپتياPashto, Pushto
- silenciar, silêncioPortuguese
- tăcere, tăcere!, liniște!, linișteRomanian
- тишина, молчи, заглушить, молчание, заткнуть ротRussian
- му̑к, тишѝна, mȗk, tišìnaSerbo-Croatian
- ticho, mlčanieSlovak
- molk, tišinaSlovene
- heshtjeAlbanian
- tysta, tyst!, tystnadSwedish
- ம .னம்Tamil
- నిశ్శబ్దముTelugu
- ความเงียบThai
- ümsümlikTurkmen
- sessizlik, susturmak, sükutTurkish
- тынлыкTatar
- мовчання, тишаUkrainian
- خاموشیUrdu
- yên lặngVietnamese
- seilVolapük
- שטילקייַטYiddish
- 沉默Chinese
- ukuthulaZulu
Get even more translations for Silence »
Translation
Find a translation for the Silence definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
"Silence." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2022. Web. 21 May 2022. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/Silence>.
Discuss these Silence definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In