flute

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In many languages the word for a flute is the same as that for a reed.

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Definitions (45)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (11)

  1. noun Music A high-pitched woodwind instrument consisting of a slender tube closed at one end with keys and finger holes on the side and an opening near the closed end across which the breath is blown. Also called transverse flute.
  2. noun Music Any of various similar reedless woodwind instruments, such as the recorder.
  3. noun Music An organ stop whose flue pipe produces a flutelike tone.
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Examples (50)

  • It was something like a flute, and something like a trumpet, beautiful in its fashion but difficult to comprehend. —  A Spell for Chameleon
  • Ms. Greenberg was the principal flutist for the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra's tour of Japan, and has received the "Most Valuable Player" award on the flute from the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences. —  Los Angeles Chronicle
  • Luciano Berio's arrangement of folksongs is scored for an eclectic array of instruments -- flute, clarinet, viola, cello, harp and percussion. —  ABQnews Seeker Front Page
  • "I shall do my best, but, oh my, a young man as is a editor an' has red hair an' a flute is awful uncertain to count on. —  Susan Clegg and a Man in the House
  • After I had remarked this fact to the proprietor of the exhibit, Mr. McLoyd, showed me a very well-preserved fragment of a flute which is in the collection. —  How to Become Rich A Treatise on Phrenology, Choice of Professions and Matrimony
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Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

violin ·  harp ·  guitar ·  trumpet ·  fiddle ·  clarinet ·  lute ·  cornet ·  drum ·  bass ·  bugle ·  accordion

Used in the same contextWord Family

flute:   flutes

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English floute, from Old French flaute, from Old Provençal flaüt, perhaps a blend of flaujol, flageolet (from Vulgar Latin *flābeolum; see flageolet) and laut, lute; see lute1.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. Mod. English (taking the place of earlier flout, q. v., and floit, q. v.), from French flute, now written flûte, a contr. of earlier fleüte (two syllables, orig. three), from Old French fleüte, flaüte, flahute, and (with false silent s) fleüste, flaüste, flahuste = Provencal Spanish flauta = Portuguese frauta, flauta = Italian flauto, masculine (Middle Latin reflexive flauta), a flute; cf. Old Dutch fluyt, Dutch fluit = Low German fleute, fleite = Middle High German vloite, German flöte = Danish flöite = Swedish flöjt = Bohemian flauta = Polish flet, etc., of French origin; verbal noun of Old French flaüter, blow the flute, literally blow, prob. transposed from flatuer, from Middle Latin *flatuare, an assumed verb, from Latin flatus (flatu-), a blowing, from flare, blow, breathe, = English blow.
  2. = French flúter = Provencal flautar = Portuguese frautar (= Dutch fluiten = Low German floiten, fleiten = Middle High German floiten, flöuten = German flöten = Danish flöjte); from the noun, but the verb in Old French is the original of the noun. See flout, the earlier form of flute.
  3. from French flúte = Spanish flauta, a storeship, from Dutch fluit (fluit-schip), Swedish flöjt, Low German fleute, a kind of three-masted trading-vessel, with a narrow stern; cf. Dutch vlot, a raft, float, etc.: see float, n.
 

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Der dicke Dachdecker deckte dir dein Dach, drum dank dem dicken Dachdecker, dass der dicke Dachdecker dir dein Dach deckte. · weitläufig · und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, so leben sie noch heute · redescheu · selbstverständlich