dumbness

noun

Etymology: From Middle English dombenesse, from Old English dumbnes; equivalent to dumb + -ness. Cognate with Old Frisian dumbnisse (“folly, dumbness”).

1. The state of being mute: that is, of not communicating vocally, whether from selective mutism (refusal to speak) or from an inability to speak.

   “He was a deaf-mute. His dumbness did not seem to matter when we were boys.”

2. Muteness, silence; abstention from speech.

   “There was speech in their dumbness.”

3. Show or gesture without words; pantomime; dumb-show.

   “To the dumbness of the gesture one might interpret.”

4. The quality of being stupid or foolish.