The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Mute \Mute\ (m[=u]t), v. t. [L. mutare to change. See Molt.]
   To cast off; to molt.
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         Have I muted all my feathers?            --Beau. & Fl.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Mute \Mute\, v. t. & i. [F. mutir, ['e]meutir, OF. esmeltir, fr.
   OD. smelten, prop., to melt. See Smelt.]
   To eject the contents of the bowels; -- said of birds. --B.
   Jonson.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Mute \Mute\, n.
   The dung of birds. --Hudibras.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Mute \Mute\, a. [L. mutus; cf. Gr. my`ein to shut, Skr. m[=u]ta
   bound, m[=u]ka dumb: cf. OE. muet, fr. F. muet, a dim. of OF.
   mu, L. mutus.]
   1. Not speaking; uttering no sound; silent.
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            All the heavenly choir stood mute,
            And silence was in heaven.            --Milton.
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   Note: In law a prisoner is said to stand mute, when, upon
         being arranged, he makes no answer, or does not plead
         directly, or will not put himself on trial.
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   2. Incapable of speaking; dumb. --Dryden.
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   3. Not uttered; unpronounced; silent; also, produced by
      complete closure of the mouth organs which interrupt the
      passage of breath; -- said of certain letters. See 5th
      Mute, 2.
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   4. Not giving a ringing sound when struck; -- said of a
      metal.
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   Mute swan (Zool.), a European wild white swan (Cygnus
      olor syn. Cygnus gibbus), which produces no loud notes,
      in distinction from the Trumpeter swan.
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   Syn: Silent; dumb; speechless.

   Usage: Mute, Silent, Dumb. One is silent who does not
          speak; one is dumb who can not, for want of the proper
          organs; as, a dumb beast, etc.; and hence,
          figuratively, we speak of a person as struck dumb with
          astonishment, etc. One is mute who is held back from
          speaking by some special cause; as, he was mute
          through fear; mute astonishment, etc. Such is the case
          with most of those who never speak from childhood;
          they are not ordinarily dumb, but mute because they
          are deaf, and therefore never learn to talk; and hence
          their more appropriate name is deaf-mutes.
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                They spake not a word;
                But, like dumb statues, or breathing stones,
                Gazed each on other.              --Shak.
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                All sat mute,
                Pondering the danger with deep thoughts.
                                                  --Milton.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Mute \Mute\, n.
   1. One who does not speak, whether from physical inability,
      unwillingness, or other cause. Specifically:
      (a) One who, from deafness, either congenital or from
          early life, is unable to use articulate language; a
          deaf-mute.
      (b) A person employed by undertakers at a funeral.
      (c) A person whose part in a play does not require him to
          speak.
      (d) Among the Turks, an officer or attendant who is
          selected for his place because he can not speak.
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   2. (Phon.) A letter which represents no sound; a silent
      letter; also, a close articulation; an element of speech
      formed by a position of the mouth organs which stops the
      passage of the breath; as, p, b, d, k, t.
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   3. (Mus.) A little utensil made of brass, ivory, or other
      material, so formed that it can be fixed in an erect
      position on the bridge of a violin, or similar instrument,
      in order to deaden or soften the tone.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

mute
    adj 1: expressed without speech; "a mute appeal"; "a silent
           curse"; "best grief is tongueless"- Emily Dickinson; "the
           words stopped at her lips unsounded"; "unspoken grief";
           "choking exasperation and wordless shame"- Thomas Wolfe
           [syn: mute, tongueless, unspoken, wordless]
    2: unable to speak because of hereditary deafness [syn: dumb,
       mute, silent]
    n 1: a deaf person who is unable to speak [syn: mute, deaf-
         mute, deaf-and-dumb person]
    2: a device used to soften the tone of a musical instrument
    v 1: deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping [syn:
         muffle, mute, dull, damp, dampen, tone down]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

200 Moby Thesaurus words for "mute":
   abiotic, acoustic tile, allophone, alveolar, anaudic, antiknock,
   aphasic, aphonic, apico-alveolar, apico-dental, articulation,
   aspiration, assimilation, azoic, baffle, baffler, baton, bearer,
   bilabial, bit player, breathless, brief, brusque, cacuminal,
   cerebral, check, close, close-tongued, closemouthed, concise,
   consonant, continuant, curt, cushion, damp, dampen, dampener,
   damper, deaden, deaf-mute, deafen, dental, diapason, diphthong,
   dissimilation, dull, dumb, dumbfounded, dumbstricken, dumbstruck,
   dummy, economical of words, epenthetic vowel, exanimate, explosive,
   extra, figurant, figurante, gag, glide, glottal, glottalization,
   griever, guttural, hush, hushcloth, inanimate, inanimated,
   inarticulate, indisposed to talk, inert, insensate, insensible,
   insentient, keener, labial, labialization, labiodental, labiovelar,
   laconic, lamenter, laryngeal, lateral, lifeless, lingual, liquid,
   manner of articulation, metronome, modification, monochord,
   monophthong, morphophoneme, mourner, muffle, muffler, mum,
   music stand, muzzle, nasal, nonconscious, nonliving, occlusive,
   palatal, pallbearer, parasitic vowel, peak, pharyngeal,
   pharyngealization, phone, phoneme, pitch pipe, plosive,
   professional mourner, prothetic vowel, quiet, quietener, reserved,
   retroflex, rhythmometer, segmental phoneme, semivowel, senseless,
   short, silence, silence cloth, silencer, silent, snug, soft pedal,
   soft-pedal, soften, sonant, sonometer, sonority, sordine, sordino,
   soulless, sound-absorbing material, soundproofing,
   soundproofing insulation, sourdine, sparing of words,
   spear-carrier, speech sound, speechless, stand-in, standby, stick,
   stifle, stop, stricken dumb, subdue, substitute, supe, super,
   supernumerary, support, supporting actor, supporting cast,
   suppress, surd, syllabic nucleus, syllabic peak, syllable, tacit,
   taciturn, terse, tight-lipped, tone down, tone measurer,
   tongue-tied, tongueless, transition sound, triphthong, tuning bar,
   tuning fork, tuning pipe, turn down, unanimated, unconscious,
   understudy, unfeeling, unloquacious, unsaid, unspoken, untalkative,
   velar, vocable, vocalic, vocoid, voice, voiced sound, voiceless,
   voiceless sound, voicing, vowel, walk-on, walking gentleman,
   word-bound, wordless



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

MUTE, persons. One who is dumb. Vide Deaf and Dumb.



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

MUTE, STANDING MUTE, practice, crim. law. When a prisoner upon his
arraignment totally refuses to answer, insists upon mere frivolous
pretences, or refuses to put himself upon the country, after pleading not
guilty, he is said to stand mute.
     2. In the case of the United States v. Hare, et al., Circuit Court,
Maryland Dist. May sess. 1818, the prisoner standing mute was considered as
if he had pleaded not guilty.
     3. The act of congress of March 3, 1825, 3 Story's L. U. S. 2002, has
since provided as follows; Sec. 14, That if any person, upon his or her
arraignment upon any indictment before any court of the United States for
any offence, not capital, shall stand mute, or will not answer or plead to
such indictment, the court shall, notwithstanding, proceed to the trial of
the person, so standing mute, or refusing to answer or pleas, as if he or
she had pleaded not guilty; and upon a verdict being returned by the jury,
may proceed to render judgment accordingly. A similar provision is to be
found in the laws of Pennsylvania.
     4. The barbarous punishment of peine forte et dure which till lately
disgraced the criminal code of England, was never known in the United
States. Vide Dumb; 15 Vin. Ab. 527.
     5. When a prisoner stands mute, the laws of England arrive at the
forced conclusion that he is guilty, and punish him accordingly. 1 Chit. Cr.
Law, 428.
     6. By the old French law, when a person accused was mute, or stood
mute, it was the duty of the judge to appoint him a curator, whose duty it
was to defend him, in the best manner he could; and for this purpose, he was
allowed to communicate with him privately. Poth. Proced. Crim. s. 4, art. 2,
Sec. 1.