mute

mute 1 A person who does not speak, either because of an inability to speak or an unwillingness to speak. The term is specifically applied to a person who, due to profound congenital or early deafness, is unable to use articulate language and so is deaf-mute. 2 The condition of not speaking. See also apraxia of speech; autism; elective mutism; selective mutism. 3 In speech, a letter that is silent, or an element of speech that is formed by a position of the mouth that stops the passage of the breath, such as the letters p, b, d, k, and t.