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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

silence is golden en · X

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Calque of Latin silentium est aureum (“silence is golden”).

Meanings

  1. Peace and quiet have great value.
    • "[I] adore good music, I hate bad, and I despise mediocre. Silence is golden, indeed, compared with poor music." 1877, Charles Reade, chapter 21, in A Woman-Hater:
  2. Often the best choice is to say nothing.
    • I shouldn't lower myself to respond to the personal attacks on me, but silence, as the current scandal plaguing the federal administration shows, isn't golden. 1987 April 4, T.R. Witomski, “witomski responds to readers' response to witomski (letter)”, in Gay Community News, page 6:
    • But I have spoken long enough. There are times when silence is golden, and one of those times is at hand. 1897, Horatio Alger, chapter 2, in Walter Sherwood's Probation:

Relateds

speech is silver, silence is golden

Translations (31)

es por la boca muere el pez (proverb) · ga is binn béal ina thost (proverb) · ja 沈黙は金雄弁は銀 (proverb) · fr le silence est d'or (proverb) · cs mlčeti zlato (proverb) · da tale er sølv, tavshed er guld (proverb) · gd am fear a ghlèidheas a theangaidh, ghlèidhidh e a charaid (proverb) · el η σιωπή είναι χρυσός (proverb) · sh ћутање је злато (proverb) · cmn 沉默是金 (proverb) · it il silenzio è d'oro (proverb) · is enginn er allheimskur ef þegja má (proverb) · sv tiga är guld (proverb) · es el silencio es oro (proverb) · bg мълча́нието е зла́то (proverb) · pl milczenie jest złotem (proverb) · sh ćutanje je zlato (proverb) · ar اَلسُّكُوتُ مِن ذَهَبٍ (proverb) · mk молчењето е злато (proverb) · gd measar an t-amadan glic ma chumas e a theanga (proverb) · pt o silêncio é ouro (proverb) · la silentium est aurum (proverb) · vi im lặng là vàng (proverb) · de Schweigen ist Gold (proverb) · hu hallgatni arany (proverb) · gd 's fhearr a bhith sàmhach na droch-dhàn a ghabhail (proverb) · is þögn er gulls ígildi (proverb) · gd cha tèid cuileag am beul dùinte (proverb) · he שְׁתִיקָה שָׁוָה זָהָב (proverb) · id diam itu emas (proverb) · fi vaikeneminen on kultaa (proverb)