[1] The word "mum" is an alteration of momme, which was used between 1350 and 1400 in Middle English with very close to the same meaning, "be silent; do not reveal".
Mum is a Middle English word meaning 'silent',[2] and may be derived from the mummer who acts without speaking.
The origins of the phrase can be traced back to the fourteenth century and William Langland's narrative poem, Piers Plowman:Thou mightest beter meten the myst on Malverne hullesThen geten a mom of heore mouth til moneye weore schewed!
It can also be seen in popular fifteenth-century Towneley Plays:[4]Though thi lyppis be stokyn, yit myght thou say 'mum'.
The phrase notably appears in Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 2, Act 1, Scene 2:Seal up your lips and give no words but mum.This vocabulary-related article is a stub.