Friday, June 6, 2008

Magic Wand: Moot/Mute

I'm waving the wand for my wife. She specifically requested this one. She would like people to properly use the words moot and mute: they are not interchangable.

Moot
Function: noun
1: a deliberative assembly primarily for the administration of justice; especially : one held by the freemen of an Anglo-Saxon community
2obsolete : argument, discussion

Moot
Function: adjective
1 a: open to question : debatable b: subjected to discussion : disputed
2: deprived of practical significance : made abstract or purely academic

Mute
Function: adjective
1: unable to speak : lacking the power of speech
2: characterized by absence of speech: as a: felt or experienced but not expressed b: refusing to plead directly or stand trial
3: remaining silent, undiscovered, or unrecognized
4 a: contributing nothing to the pronunciation of a word b: contributing to the pronunciation of a word but not representing the nucleus of a syllable

Mute
Function: noun
1 : stop 9
2 : a person who cannot or does not speak
3 : a device attached to or inserted into a musical instrument to soften or alter its tone

Mute
Function: transitive verb
1 : to muffle, reduce, or eliminate the sound of
2 : to tone down : soften, subdue

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