dumben

English

Etymology

From dumb +‎ -en. Compare Gothic 𐌰𐍆𐌳𐌿𐌼𐌱𐌽𐌰𐌽 (afdumbnan, “to be silent”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ʌmən

Verb

dumben (third-person singular simple present dumbens, present participle dumbening, simple past and past participle dumbened)

1. (transitive, rare) To make dumb.
   • 2004, Welsh Arts Council, Poetry Wales:

     Please hush-now this heart to dumben this breath. Please muffle the whimpers, the drippings of sweat.

Anagrams

• Ndembu, numbed

Middle English

Alternative forms

• doumben

Etymology

From Old English dumbian, from Proto-West Germanic *dumbōn, from Proto-Germanic *dumbōną, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdumbən/

Verb

dumben (rare)

1. To make no sound or movement.

Conjugation

Conjugation of dumben (weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) dumben, dumbe
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	dumbe	dumbed
2nd-person singular	dumbest	dumbedest
3rd-person singular	dumbeth	dumbed
subjunctive singular	dumbe
imperative singular		—
plural1	dumben, dumbe	dumbeden, dumbede
imperative plural	dumbeth, dumbe	—
participles	dumbynge, dumbende	dumbed, ydumbed

¹Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: dumb

References

• “dǒmben, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-04-02.