mutus

Mutus is a Latin adjective meaning mute or silent, used in classical and scholarly contexts to describe the absence of speech or sound. In Latin grammar it appears as mutus for masculine nouns, muta for feminine, and mutum for neuter, and it has given rise to related modern terms such as mutism in medical and linguistic usage.

The word’s enduring cultural footprint in English and other languages stems largely from the Latin title Liber Mutus, commonly known in English as the Mutus Liber or The Silent Book. This 17th-century alchemical work consists of a sequence of engravings without accompanying text, depicting stages of laboratory operations and symbolic procedures. The authorship of the Mutus Liber is unknown, and the plates are interpreted by scholars as a visual narrative intended to convey alchemical and philosophical ideas rather than to teach through words. The book has been influential in the history of alchemy, esotericism, and the study of visual culture, and it has circulated in various editions and translations since its original publication.

In modern usage, mutus remains primarily a classical or scholarly term. It appears in Latin phrases and academic discussions about mutism or silencing in medical, linguistic, and literary contexts. The root also informs related terms such as mutism, which denotes a speech absence or a persistent inability to speak in certain conditions.

See also mutism; mute; Mutus Liber.