Deaf-mute

Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf using a sign language or both deaf and could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak an oral language or have some degree of speaking ability, but choose not to speak because of the negative or unwanted attention atypical voices sometimes attract. Such people communicate using sign language. Some consider it to be a derogatory term if used outside its historical context; the preferred term today is simply "deaf".

It is sometimes used to refer to other hearing people in jest, to chide, or to invoke an image of someone who refuses to employ common sense or who is unreliable. "Deaf and dumb", "semi-deaf" and "semi-mute" are other historic references to deaf people.

In the past deaf-mute was used to describe deaf people who used sign language, but in modern times, the term is frequently viewed as insensitive or socially and politically incorrect. From antiquity (as noted in the Code of Hammurabi) until recent times, the terms "deaf-mute" and "deaf and dumb" were sometimes considered analogous to "stupid" by some hearing people.