Definition

properly, muteness, i.e. involuntary stillness, or inability to speak; and thus differing from G4602 (σιγή), which is rather a voluntary refusal or indisposition to speak, although the terms are often used synonymously); to be dumb (but not deaf also, like 2974 properly); figuratively, to be calm (as quiet water)

Etymology

from (silence, i.e. a hush;

Where the KJV renders it

• dumb
• (hold) peace

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Greek term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.