deafen

English

Etymology

From deaf +‎ -en (verbal suffix), compare Middle English deven, deaven (“to make deaf”), Old English ādēafian (“to deafen”), Dutch verdoven (“to stupefy, deafen”), German betäuben (“to stun, stupefy, deafen”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛfən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛfən

Verb

deafen (third-person singular simple present deafens, present participle deafening, simple past and past participle deafened)

1. (transitive) To make deaf, either temporarily or permanently.
2. (transitive) To make soundproof.

   to deafen a wall or a floor

3. (transitive, rare, dialectal, sometimes figurative) To stun, as with noise.
   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     Racine left the ground […] deafened, dazzled and tired to death.

Derived terms

• bedeafen
• deafener
• undeafen
• undeafened

 

Translations

to make deaf

• Arabic: أَصَمَّ (ʔaṣamma)
• Armenian: խլացնել (hy) (xlacʻnel)
• Aromanian: asurdzãscu
• Belarusian: аглу́шваць impf (ahlúšvacʹ), глушы́ць (be) impf (hlušýcʹ), аглушы́ць pf (ahlušýcʹ)
• Breton: bouzarañ (br)
• Bulgarian: оглуша́вам (bg) impf (oglušávam), оглуша́ (bg) pf (oglušá)
• Catalan: ensordir (ca)
• Dutch: verdoven (nl), doof maken
• Finnish: kuurouttaa
• French: assourdir (fr), rendre sourd
• Galician: enxordar, axordar
• German: betäuben (de)
• Greek: κουφαίνω (el) (koufaíno)
• Hungarian: megsüketít (hu)
• Indonesian: menulikan (id)
• Irish: bodhraigh
• Japanese: 聾する (ろうする, rōsuru)
• Korean: 귀를 먹먹하게 하다 (gwi-reul meongmeokhage hada)
• Macedonian: оглуви (ogluvi)
• Polish: ogłuszać (pl) impf, ogłuszyć (pl) pf
• Portuguese: ensurdecer (pt)
• Romanian: asurzi (ro)
• Russian: оглуша́ть (ru) impf (oglušátʹ), глуши́ть (ru) impf (glušítʹ), оглуши́ть (ru) pf (oglušítʹ)
• Spanish: ensordecer (es)
• Ukrainian: оглуша́ти impf (ohlušáty), глуши́ти impf (hlušýty), оглу́шувати impf (ohlúšuvaty), оглуши́ти pf (ohlušýty)

to make soundproof

• Bulgarian: заглуша́вам (bg) impf (zaglušávam), заглуша́ (bg) pf (zaglušá), пра́вя звуконепроница́ем impf (právja zvukonepronicáem)
• Dutch: geluiddicht maken
• Finnish: äänieristää
• Russian: заглуши́ть (ru) pf (zaglušítʹ), приглуши́ть (ru) pf (priglušítʹ)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} להתחרש (lehitkharesh)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} surdigar (io)