lute
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lute¹
- /l(j)uːt/ Canada, UK
- /lut/ US
- /lɪu̯t/ Wales
Sounds like loot (yod-dropping) · Rhymes with -uːt
Where it comes from
From Middle French lut (modern luth), from Old French leüt, probably from Old Occitan laüt, from Arabic اَلْعُود (al-ʕūd, “wood”) (probably representing an Andalusian Arabic or North African pronunciation). Doublet of oud, lavta, and laouto.
noun lutes
- A fretted stringed instrument, similar to the guitar, having a bowl-shaped body or soundbox; any of a wide variety of chordophones with a pear-shaped body and a neck whose upper surface is in the same plane as the soundboard, with strings along the neck and parallel to the soundboard.
verb lutes · luting · luted
- To play on a lute, or as if on a lute. Knaves are men / That lute and flute fantastic tenderness.
lute²
- /l(j)uːt/ Canada, UK
- /lut/ US
- /lɪu̯t/ Wales
Sounds like loot (yod-dropping) · Rhymes with -uːt
Where it comes from
From Old French lut, ultimately from Latin lutum (“mud”).
noun lutes
- Thick sticky clay or cement used to close up a hole or gap, especially to make something air-tight. He employed a mixture of flour and white of egg spread upon a linen cloth to cement cracked glass vessels, and used other lutes for similar purposes.
- A packing ring, as of rubber, for fruit jars, etc.
- A straight-edged piece of wood for striking off superfluous clay from earth.
verb lutes · luting · luted
- To fix or fasten something with lute. To protect everything till it dried, a man […] luted a big blue paper cap from a cracker, with meringue-cream, low down on Jevon's forehead.
Lute³
Where it comes from
* English surname of Old Norse origin, from lútr (“stooping”).
* German surname, derived from an old Germanic name from *liudi (“people, tribe”).
proper noun Lutes
- A surname.
Translations
Talk about this word "lute." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lute. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. lute. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lute "lute." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lute.Cite this
@misc{lute_2026,
title = {lute},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lute},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
