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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

flute.

A woodwind instrument consisting of a tube with a row of holes that produce sound through vibrations caused by air blown across the edge of the holes, often tuned by plugging one or more holes with a finger; the Western concert flute, a transverse side-blown flute of European origin.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/flu(ː)t/
  1. A woodwind instrument consisting of a tube with a row of holes that produce sound through vibrations caused by air blown across the edge of the holes, often tuned by plugging one or more holes with a finger; the Western concert flute, a transverse side-blown flute of European origin.

  2. A recorder, also a woodwind instrument.

    colloquial
  3. A glass with a long, narrow bowl and a long stem, used for drinking wine, especially champagne.

  4. A lengthwise groove, such as one of the lengthwise grooves on a classical column, or a groove on a cutting tool (such as a drill bit, endmill, or reamer), which helps to form both a cutting edge and a channel through which chips can escape.

  5. A semicylindrical vertical groove, as in a pillar, in plaited cloth, or in a rifle barrel to cut down the weight.

  6. A long French bread roll, baguette.

  7. An organ stop with a flute-like sound.

  8. A shuttle in weaving tapestry etc.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English fleute, floute, flote, from Old French flaute, fleüte, from Old Provençal flaüt, of uncertain origin. Perhaps ultimately from three possibilities: * Blend of Provencal flaujol (“flageolet”) + laüt (“lute”) * From Latin flātus (“blowing”), from flāre (“to blow”) * Imitative. Doublet of flauta and fluyt.

verb/flu(ː)t/
  1. To play on a flute.

    intransitive
  2. To make a flutelike sound.

    intransitive
  3. To utter with a flutelike sound.

    transitive
  4. To form flutes or channels in (as in a column, a ruffle, etc.); to cut a semicylindrical vertical groove in (as in a pillar, etc.).

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English fleute, floute, flote, from Old French flaute, fleüte, from Old Provençal flaüt, of uncertain origin. Perhaps ultimately from three possibilities: * Blend of Provencal flaujol (“flageolet”) + laüt (“lute”) * From Latin flātus (“blowing”), from flāre (“to blow”) * Imitative. Doublet of flauta and fluyt.

noun/flu(ː)t/
  1. A kind of flyboat; a storeship.

Where this word comes from

Compare French flûte (“a transport”)?, Dutch fluit.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.