    To be mute is to not emit an articulate sound; silent. In reference to law, to stand mute (of malice) is to refuse deliberately to plead. Mute can refer to the destitution of the faculty of speech; dumb. Applied to the lower animals, mute means lacking the power of articulate speech.
    In musical terms, a mute is produced by an entire interruption of the passage of breath, or by the complete closure of the organs of the mouth; 'stopped'. A pear-shaped leather pad or piece of metal which can be inserted into the bell of a metal wind-instrument to check the emission of sound.
     In oriental countries, a mute is a dumb house-servant or janitor; usually one who has been
deliberately deprived of the power of speech. A mute can be a professional attendant at a funeral; a hired 'mourner'.