lute

¹lute

noun \ˈlüt\

Definition of LUTE

: a stringed instrument having a large pear-shaped body, a vaulted back, a fretted fingerboard, and a head with tuning pegs which is often angled backward from the neck

Illustration of LUTE

Origin of LUTE

Middle English, from Middle French lut, from Old Occitan laut, from Arabic al-ʽūd, literally, the wood

First Known Use: 13th century

Rhymes with LUTE

boot, bruit, brut, brute, bute, Bute, butte, chute, cloot, coot, cute, flute, fruit, glout, glute, hoot, jute, Jute, loot, moot, mute, newt, pood, root, Root, rout, route, scoot, scute, shoot, snoot, soot, suit, suite, toot, tout, ut, Ute

²lute

transitive verb

lut·edlut·ing

Definition of LUTE

: to seal or cover (as a joint or surface) with lute

Origin of LUTE

Middle English, from Latin lutare, from lutum mud — more at pollute

First Known Use: 14th century

³lute

noun

Definition of LUTE

: a substance (as cement or clay) for packing a joint or coating a porous surface to make it impervious to gas or liquid

First Known Use of LUTE

15th century

lute

noun \ˈlüt\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of LUTE

: a substance (as cement or clay) for packing a joint (as in laboratory apparatus) or coating a porous surface to produce imperviousness to gas or liquid

—lute transitive verb, lut·ed lut·ing

lute

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Angel playing a lute, from “Presentation in the Temple,” painted altarpiece by Vittore …—SCALA/Art Resource, New York

Plucked stringed instrument popular in 16th–17th-century Europe. It originated from the Arab 'ud, which reached Europe in the 13th century. Like the 'ud, the lute has a deep pear-shaped body with an ornamental soundhole, a fretted neck with a bent-back pegbox, and strings hitched to a bridge glued to the instrument's belly. In later years it acquired several unstopped bass strings. It became the preferred instrument for cultivated amateur musicians and acquired an extensive literature of song accompaniments and solo and consort music.