lute

noun, verb — 6 senses

lute

noun

CA, UK /l(j)uːt/ · US /lut/

Etymology 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.

1

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.

Derived terms
angel lute, archlute, bowl lute, German lute, lute-backed, lutefish, lute guitar, lutelike, lutemaker, lutemaking, lutite, mandolute, spike lute, yoke lute
Related terms
archlute, lutanist, lutenist, luter, lutherie, luthier, lutist

lute

verb

Etymology 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.

1

To play on a lute, or as if on a lute.

  • Knaves are men / That lute and flute fantastic tenderness.1847, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page number, or |part=Prologue, I to VII, or conclusion)”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
  • in the air , her new voice luting soft1820, John Keats, “(please specify the poem)”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC:
Related terms
barbiton, barbitos, guembri, guqin, mandola, mandolin, oud, pipa, rebab, samisen, shamisen, theorbo

lute

noun

Etymology From Old French lut, ultimately from Latin lutum (“mud”).

1

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.1830, Thomas Thomson (chemist), The History of Chemistry, volume 1, page 41:
2

A packing ring, as of rubber, for fruit jars, etc.

3

A straight-edged piece of wood for striking off superfluous clay from earth.

Derived terms
belute, fat lute, unlute

lute

verb

Etymology From Old French lut, ultimately from Latin lutum (“mud”).

1

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.1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘A Friend's Friend’, Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio Society, published 2005, page 179:
Derived terms
lutation, luter

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.