Definition
adjUnable to speak; lacking power of speech.
adjNot talkative; taciturn or unwilling to speak.
Sentence Examples
I'm so dumb... I'm trying to explain things to you that I don't understand myself.
Helen Keller was blind, deaf and dumb.
That was a pretty dumb thing to do.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English dumb (“silent, speechless, mute, ineffectual”), from Old English dumb (“silent, speechless, mute, unable to speak”), from Proto-West Germanic *dumb, from Proto-Germanic *dumbaz (“dull, dumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”).
The senses of stupid, unintellectual, and pointless, which are found regularly since the 19th century only, probably developed under the influence of German dumm and Dutch dom. Just like the English word, these originally meant "lacking the power of speech", but they developed the mentioned senses early on.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots dumb (“dumb, silent”), North Frisian dom, domme (“dumb, stupid”), West Frisian dom (“dumb, stupid”), Dutch dom (“dumb, stupid”), German dumm (“dumb, stupid”), Danish dum (“stupid”), Swedish dum (“stupid”), Icelandic dumbur (“dumb, mute”). See also deaf.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"to unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures"
— [1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):
"The country people frequently ſay,—How can you treat a poor dumb beaſt ill; and a ſtreſs is very properly laid on the word dumb; for dumb they appear to thoſe who do not obſerve their looks and geſtures; but God, who takes care of every thing, underſtands their language..."
— 1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, chapter 2, in Original Stories from Real Life (Children's literature), London: J. Johnson, published 1796, pages 10–11:
"We are dumb and we would talk"
— 1884 January 5, “Mighty maiden with a mission”, in W. S. Gilbert (lyrics), Arthur Sullivan (music), Princess Ida, performed by D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, London, page 48:
"It is true, there is Turkish of which I had picked up a few phrases, and there is Chinese of which I did not understand a single word. But I had no fear of remaining dumb in Turkestan and the Celestial Empire."
— a. 1905, anonymous translator, The Adventures of a Special Correspondent Among the Various Races and Countries of Central Asia, translation of Claudius Bombarnac by Jules Verne:
"Deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow / What you need is someone strong to guide you"
— 1992, “Opiate”, performed by Tool: