lute
1[ loot ]
/ lut /
noun
a stringed musical instrument having a long, fretted neck and a hollow, typically pear-shaped body with a vaulted back.
verb (used without object), lut·ed, lut·ing.
to play a lute.
verb (used with object), lut·ed, lut·ing.
to perform (music) on a lute: a musician skilled at luting Elizabethan ballads.
to express (a feeling, mood, etc.) by means of a lute: The minstrel eloquently luted his melancholy.
QUIZZES
DON’T VACILLATE! VANQUISH THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!
It’d be a real faux pas to miss this quiz on the words from August 3–9, 2020!
Question 1 of 7
What does “vacillate” mean?
Origin of lute
11325–75; Middle English <Middle French, Old French <Old Provençal laut<Arabic al ʿūd literally, the wood
Words nearby lute
lusty, lusus naturae, Lü-ta, lutanist, Lut Desert, lute, luteal, luteal cell, luteal phase, lutefisk, lutein
Definition for lute (2 of 3)
lute2
[ loot ]
/ lut /
noun
verb (used with object), lut·ed, lut·ing.
to seal or cement with luting.
Origin of lute
21375–1425; late Middle English <Medieval Latin lutum, special use of Latin lutum mud, clay
Definition for lute (3 of 3)
lute3
[ loot ]
/ lut /
noun
a paving tool for spreading and smoothing concrete, consisting of a straightedge mounted transversely on a long handle.
verb (used with object), lut·ed, lut·ing.
to spread and smooth (concrete in a pavement) with a lute.
Origin of lute
31870–75, Americanism;<Dutch loet
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for lute
British Dictionary definitions for lute (1 of 2)
lute1
/ (luːt) /
noun
an ancient plucked stringed instrument, consisting of a long fingerboard with frets and gut strings, and a body shaped like a sliced pear
Word Origin for lute
C14: from Old French lut, via Old Provençal from Arabic al `ūd, literally: the wood
British Dictionary definitions for lute (2 of 2)
lute2
/ (luːt) /
noun
Also called: luting a mixture of cement and clay used to seal the joints between pipes, etc
dentistry a thin layer of cement used to fix a crown or inlay in place on a tooth
verb
(tr) to seal (a joint or surface) with lute
Word Origin for lute
C14: via Old French ultimately from Latin lutum clay
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012