Definitions
Sorry, no definitions found. Check out and contribute to the discussion of this word!
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word stand mute.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
Gammerstang commented on the word stand mute
(verb) - A prisoner is said to stand mute when, being arraigned for treason or felony, he either makes no answer, or answers foreign to the purpose. Anciently, a mute was taken back to prison, placed in a dark dungeon, naked, on his back, on the bare ground, and a great weight of iron placed on his body . . . By statute 12 George III, judgment is awarded against mutes, in the same manner as if they were convicted or confessed. A man refusing to plead was condemned and executed . . . on a charge of burglary, at Wells, 1792.
--Joseph Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, 1841
January 17, 2018