Flute Meaning
/flu(ː)t/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA 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.
nounA recorder, also a woodwind instrument.
Sentence Examples
If a fire should break out, I would make off with my flute.
Bob plays not only the guitar but also the flute.
She plays the flute in the school orchestra.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She played a beautiful melody on the silver ____, blowing across a small hole.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The musician played a haunting melody on his silver ____, which echoed through the concert hall.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The breathing flute's ſoft notes are heard around, / And the ſhril trumpets mix their ſilver ſound; / The vaulted roofs vvith echoing muſic ring, / Theſe touch the vocal ſtops, and thoſe the trembling ſtring."
— 1709, Alexander Pope, “January and May; or, The Merchant’s Tale, from Chaucer”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC, page 217:
"The group played huge drums placed overhead, along with flutes and a kotolike zither."
— 2008 January 15, Jon Pareles, “To See (and Hear) the World in Five Hours: Unique Sounds Ripe for Import”, in The New York Times:
"After another alternation of the two elements, there is a more playful episode, in which flute and bassoon take up the first element, with swooping glissando on the ondes Martenot."
— 2018, Robert Philip, The Classical Music Lover's Companion to Orchestral Music, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 465:
"These are champagne glasses, says Peggy.
No, I mean the tall ones, Jamie says.
You're thinking of flutes, says Peggy. These are coupes."
— 2018, Sally Rooney, “Six Months Later (July 2013)”, in Normal People:
"The green turf was velvet underfoot. The blackbirds fluted in the hazels there."
— 1895, S. R. Crockett, A Cry Across the Black Water:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She played a beautiful melody on the silver ____, blowing across a small hole.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The musician played a haunting melody on his silver ____, which echoed through the concert hall.