flute
pronunciation
How to pronounce flute in British English:
UK [fluːt]
How to pronounce flute in American English:
US [fluːt]
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- Noun:
- a high-pitched woodwind instrument; a slender tube closed at one end with finger holes on one end and an opening near the closed end across which the breath is blown
- a tall narrow wineglass
- a groove or furrow in cloth etc especially the shallow concave groove on the shaft of a column
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- Verb:
- form flutes in
Word Origin
- flute
- flute: [14] Provençal flaut was probably the original source of flute, and it reached English via Old French floute or floite. Where flaut came from, however, is another matter, and a much disputed one. Some etymologists claim that it is ultimately simply an imitation of a high-pitched sound, its initial consonant cluster perhaps provided by Provençal flajol ‘small flute or whistle’ (source of English flageolet [17], but itself of unknown origin) and Latin flāre ‘blow’; others suggest a specific blend of flajol with Provençal laut, source of English lute.The sense ‘groove’ developed in English in the 17th century, from a comparison with the long thin shape of the instrument. Related forms in English include flautist [19], whose immediate source, Italian flautisto, preserves the au diphthong of the Provençal source word flaut (American English prefers the older, native English formation flutist [17]); and perhaps flout [16], which may come from Dutch fluiten ‘play the flute’, hence ‘whistle at, mock’.=> flout
- flute (n.)
- early 14c., from Old French flaut, flaute (musical) "flute" (12c.), from Old Provençal flaut, which is of uncertain origin; perhaps imitative or from Latin flare "to blow" (see blow (v.1)); perhaps influenced by Provençal laut "lute." The other Germanic words (such as German flöte) are likewise borrowings from French. Ancient flutes were direct, blown straight through a mouthpiece but held away from the player's mouth; the modern transverse or German flute developed 18c. The older style then sometimes were called flûte-a-bec (French, literally "flute with a beak"). The modern design and key system of the concert flute were perfected 1834 by Theobald Boehm. The architectural sense of "furrow in a pillar" (1650s) is from fancied resemblance to the inside of a flute split down the middle. Meaning "tall, slender wine glass" is from 1640s.
- flute (v.)
- late 14c., "to play upon the flute," from flute (n.). Meaning "to make (architectural) flutes" is from 1570s. Related: Fluted; fluting.
Example
- 1. Customers do not care about your daughter 's flute recital .
- 2. Suppose that you play the flute and I write poetry .
- 3. Then I listen to mozart 's flute and harp concertos on a walkman .
- 4. She would feed my two cats , clean my room and practise my flute .
- 5. New instruments were developed specifically the recorder the transverse flute oboe and bassoon .