I need a single word meaning "to keep silence"

The Hermitic tradition names four powers attributed to the Sphinx: to know, to dare, to will, and to keep silence. I am looking for a short word which means "to keep silence" to use in a graphic design along with the short words for the other three powers.

My current design drafts use "know", "dare", "will", and "hold", but "hold" doesn't quite fit the intended meaning; and neither does "hide". Both "hold" and "hide" physically work well within the design, however.

An ideal candidate would be similar in length to the other three, be a single word, and not be outright silly. (I.e., "zip it" would could fit, but it is two words and idiomatic, although it is short enough to fit within the design constraints.)

In context, the phrase "to keep silence" refers to "a prudence which nothing can corrupt and nothing intoxicate" in the words of the occultist Eliphas Lévi.

Solution 1:

I would just use bide, a fine word if somewhat underused in these latter days.

Solution 2:

I would go with forbear. Although it's more general than the specific sense of keeping silence, I think it captures the idea of restraint implied in the context you've given.

• To refrain from, resist
• To desist from, cease
• To be tolerant or patient in the face of provocation

And as an added bonus, you get the rhyming sequence, "Know, dare, will, forbear" :)

Solution 3:

What about hush?

To be or become silent or still

Admittedly it's the beginning of silence instead of its continuation.

Then again, why not use the adjective silent, implying this is permanent? So "to know, to dare, to will, and to keep silence" might become "knowing, daring, willing, silent"