Devoices

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. Characterizing the act of rendering soundless or removing vocal elements from a piece of audio or speech
2. Describing the process of taking away the voice or vocal characteristics from a living being or character
3. Indicating instances where vocal communication has been eliminated or altered significantly in various contexts

Etymology: "Devoices" is the third-person singular form of "devoice," which means to strip voice from a speech sound, so that a sound like the "z" in "buzz" becomes the unvoiced "s" in "bus." The verb is built from two parts: the prefix "de-," meaning "down" or "away" in Latin, and "voice." That "voice" traces back through Anglo-Norman "voiz" to Latin "vōcem," the accusative form of "vox," and ultimately to a Proto-Indo-European root for calling or speaking. The Latin prefix "de-" had a strong sense of removal or reversal, as in "deform" or "decode." Attaching it to "voice" gives a plain literal meaning: to take the voice away from something. In phonetics, this describes the way the vocal cords stop vibrating during a consonant. The term is a transparent English formation rather than an ancient coinage, so its meaning follows directly from its parts.

Synonyms: silences, mutes, quiets, dims, softens

Antonyms: voices, pronounces, speaks, amplifies, loudens