Etymology

flute

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Today it means: A woodwind instrument consisting of a tube with a row of holes that produce sound through vibrations caused by air blown across the edge of the holes, often tuned by plugging one or more holes with a finger; the Western concert flute, a transverse side-blown flute of European origin. Full definition →

Middle English fleute ← Old French flaute ← Old Provençal flaüt
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flute · noun, verb1

  1. Old Provençal · derived fromflaüt
  2. Old French · derived fromflaute
  3. Middle English · inherited fromfleute
  4. English todayflute

From Middle English fleute, floute, flote, from Old French flaute, fleüte, from Old Provençal flaüt, of uncertain origin. Perhaps ultimately from three possibilities: * Blend of Provencal flaujol (“flageolet”) + laüt (“lute”) * From Latin flātus (“blowing”), from flāre (“to blow”) * Imitative. Doublet of flauta and fluyt.

flute · noun2

Compare French flûte (“a transport”)?, Dutch fluit.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.