lute

1 of 4

noun (1)

ˈlüt 

: 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

lute

2 of 4

verb

luted; luting

transitive verb

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

lute

3 of 4

noun (2)

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

lute-

4 of 4

combining form

variants or luteo-

: corpus luteum

luteal

Examples of lute in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

There are voices, like Mariamielle Lamagat’s and Themba Mvula’s, to stop you in your tracks; there are pieces of the eclectic orchestra that delight by their presence alone — a baritone flute, a theorbo lute, a bunch of plastic buckets played with drumsticks. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025

Alejandro—a chronic hobbyist who also carves Elizabethan lutes and builds portable pasteurizers in a rural Northern California town—teaches Berg the minutiae of boatbuilding, such as how to gauge the moisture content of a piece of wood and how to ready a vessel for its maiden voyage. —Sophia Stewart, The Atlantic, 1 Aug. 2025

Dicey intonation in the final chorus and Mandane’s second-act aria aside, the group’s unity and expression was impressive, from exactly seesawing strings to Brandon Acker’s bleak, mournful lute under Artaserse’s first-act lament. —Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 28 June 2025

The eclectic band includes a poet, an opera singer, a violinist, a pianist and two people who play the bandura, Ukraine’s traditional 62-string instrument that looks a bit like an oversize lute. —Sal Pizarro, The Mercury News, 9 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

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

Verb

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

Combining form

New Latin (corpus) luteum

First Known Use

Noun (1)

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for lute

• beaut
• boot
• bruit
• brut
• brute
• chute
• coot
• cute
• flute
• fruit
• hoot
• jute

Kids Definition

lute

noun

ˈlüt

: a musical instrument resembling a guitar but with a pear-shaped body

Medical Definition

lute

noun

ˈlüt 

: 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

luted; luting