silence (subs.) Copy link • silence (subs.): sĭlentium (stillness, where nothing is said: applicable either to persons or inanimate things): having obtained s. by sound of trumpet, quum s. classico fecisset, Liv. 2, 45: to attend in s., cum s. animadvertere, Ter. Heaut. prol. 44: to pass over in s., silentio praeterire, Cic. Sull. 21, fin.: in profound s., magno s., id. Q. Fr. 2, 1, init.: in the s. of night, silentio noctis, Caes. B. G. 7, 36: to observe long s., diuturno s. uti, Cic. Marc. init. Poet.: oft. pl. for the metre: to keep s., silentia tenere, Ov. M. 1, 206. (N.B.--Not taciturnitas: which denotes habitual reserve and unwillingness to speak.) To keep s., tacēre, silēre: v. silent, to be. Phr.: I cannot pass this over in s., hoc tacitus nullo modo praeterire possum, Cic. Marc. init.