flute

Meaning

Noun

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. (colloquial) A recorder, also a woodwind instrument.
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.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To play on a flute.
2. (intransitive) To make a flutelike sound.
3. (transitive) To utter with a flutelike sound.
4. (transitive) 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.).

Synonyms

pipe

fife

groove

whistle

piccolo

flute glass

champagne flute

woodwind

transverse flute

oboe

fluting

sulcus

chase

indent

clarinet

slot

reed

reed flute

riffle

gutter

launder

ocarina

orchestra

philharmonic orchestra

plica

plication

rabbet

rebate

recess

recorder

rut

scratch

socket

streak

streamer

stria

striation

stripe

tank

telescope

🔭

chip at

vessel

wale

wheal

wind instrument

clarionet

long thin loaf

reed pipe

tall champagne glass

ruga

Translations

flûte

🪈

Flöte

🪈

flauta

🪈

flauto

🪈

fluit

flauta

🪈

flauta

🪈

φλάουτο

bilûr

🪈

flute

bilûl

fîq

🪈

ney

نّاي

Pronounced as (IPA)

/fluːt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: fleute

Cognate with French: flûte

Cognate with Dutch: fluit

In summary

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.