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

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

The device features hundreds of sounds and samples from ye olden days, including lutes, hurdy-gurdies, and Gregorian chants. —Time Staff, TIME, 30 Oct. 2024

The painting depicts four women in dresses surrounded by a greenish fog as one of them plays the lute. —Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Sep. 2024

Nathaniel Cox toggled throughout the night between his theorbo (an extremely long-necked lute) and the mythic-seeming cornetto, a hybrid of wind and brass, with the body of a flute (often made of either hardwood or bone) and the mouthpiece of a trumpet. —Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 17 Dec. 2023

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

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