Silents

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Individuals who refrain from speaking or making noise deliberately; referring to films or performances without synchronized sound; describing letters in words that are written but not pronounced
2. Persons characterized by the absence of vocal expression; related to early motion pictures lacking audible dialogue; signifying orthographic elements that are unvoiced when spoken
3. Entities marked by muteness or intentional quietness; pertaining to cinematic works conveyed solely by visuals without audible words; indicating silent characters in spelling that do not contribute to pronunciation

Etymology: "Silents" is the plural of "silent," so it refers to people who are keeping quiet, as in a group of protesters or a crowd that has stopped speaking. The adjective it comes from goes back to Latin "silēns," meaning "silent," which is the present participle of "sileō," "be silent." That Latin verb traces further back to a prehistoric root meaning "still, windless, quiet, slow," and the same root lies behind the Gothic "anasilan," meaning "to cease, grow still," and the Old English "sālnes," meaning "silence." The plural noun is a simple grammatical step from the adjective: "silent" as a noun naming the people who stay quiet, pluralised with the usual "-s." It is a modern, everyday usage rather than a word with a separate history of its own, so its story is essentially that of "silent."

Synonyms: quiet ones, muted, silent people

Antonyms: talkers, speakers, noisy ones