Standard Lemma guide

lute

name · noun · verb · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Canada, UK: /l(j)uːt/
  • General-American: /lut/
  • Canada, Wales: /lɪu̯t/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -uːt
  • homophone: loot (yod-dropping)
  • CMU ARPABET: L UW1 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A fretted stringed instrument, similar to the guitar, having a bowl-shaped body or soundbox; any of a wide variety of chordophones with a pear-shaped body and a neck whose upper surface is in the same plane as the soundboard, with strings along the neck and parallel to the soundboard.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Thick sticky clay or cement used to close up a hole or gap, especially to make something air-tight.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A packing ring, as of rubber, for fruit jars, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A straight-edged piece of wood for striking off superfluous clay from earth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To play on a lute, or as if on a lute.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To fix or fasten something with lute.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

chordophone consisting of a plucked instrument having a pear-shaped body, a usually bent neck, and a fretted fingerboard

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: chordophone

9

noun

Meaning 9

a substance for packing a joint or coating a porous surface to make it impervious to gas or liquid

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: luting

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sealing material

History

Etymology

* English surname of Old Norse origin, from lútr (“stooping”). * German surname, derived from an old Germanic name from *liudi (“people, tribe”).

From Middle French lut (modern luth), from Old French leüt, probably from Old Occitan laüt, from Arabic اَلْعُود (al-ʕūd, “wood”) (probably representing an Andalusian Arabic or North African pronunciation). Doublet of oud, lavta, and laouto.

From Old French lut, ultimately from Latin lutum (“mud”).

Across languages

Translations

83 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: luit — stringed instrument
  • Albanian: llautë — stringed instrument
  • Arabic: عُود (ʕūd) — stringed instrument
  • Armenian: վին (vin) — stringed instrument
  • Armenian: լյուտնյա (lyutnya) — stringed instrument
  • Belarusian: лю́тня (ljútnja) — stringed instrument
  • Bulgarian: лю́тня (ljútnja) — stringed instrument
  • Buryat: хуур (xuur) — stringed instrument
  • Catalan: llaüt — stringed instrument
  • Chinese Mandarin: 魯特琴 /鲁特琴 (lǔtèqín) — stringed instrument
  • Chinese Mandarin: 琉特琴 (liútèqín) — stringed instrument
  • Czech: loutna — stringed instrument
  • Danish: lut — stringed instrument
  • Dutch: luit — stringed instrument
  • Esperanto: liuto — stringed instrument
  • Estonian: lauto — stringed instrument
  • Faroese: luttur — stringed instrument
  • Finnish: luuttu — stringed instrument
  • French: luth — stringed instrument
  • Galician: laúde — stringed instrument
  • Georgian: ბარბითი (barbiti) — stringed instrument
  • German: Laute — stringed instrument
  • Greek: λαούτο (laoúto) — stringed instrument
  • Ancient Greek: πανδούρα (pandoúra) — stringed instrument
  • Gujarati: તંતુવાદ્ય (tantuvādya) — stringed instrument
  • Gujarati: વીના (vīnā) — stringed instrument
  • Hebrew: לָאוּטָה (la'utá) — stringed instrument
  • Hindi: वीणा (vīṇā) — stringed instrument
  • Hungarian: lant — stringed instrument
  • Icelandic: lúta — stringed instrument
  • Irish: liúit — stringed instrument
  • Italian: liuto — stringed instrument
  • Japanese: リュート (ryūto) — stringed instrument
  • Kalmyk: хуур (xuur) — stringed instrument
  • Korean: 류트 (ryuteu) — stringed instrument
  • Central Kurdish: عوود ('ûd) — stringed instrument
  • Lao: ວີນາ (wī nā) — stringed instrument
  • Latin: lyra — stringed instrument
  • Latvian: lauta — stringed instrument
  • Lithuanian: liutnia — stringed instrument
  • Macedonian: ле́јта (léjta) — stringed instrument
  • Macedonian: лаута (lauta) — stringed instrument
  • Malagasy: valiha — stringed instrument
  • Malay: kecapi — stringed instrument
  • Maltese: ljut — stringed instrument
  • Middle Mongol: ᠬᠤᠭᠤᠷ (quɣur) — stringed instrument
  • Mongolian: хуур (xuur) — stringed instrument
  • Norwegian Bokmål: lutt — stringed instrument
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: lutt — stringed instrument
  • Occitan: laüt — stringed instrument
  • Persian: لوت (lut) — stringed instrument
  • Persian: بربط (barbat) — stringed instrument
  • Polish: lutnia — stringed instrument
  • Portuguese: alaúde — stringed instrument
  • Romanian: lăută — stringed instrument
  • Russian: лю́тня (ljútnja) — stringed instrument
  • Sanskrit: तन्त्री (tantrī) — stringed instrument
  • Serbo-Croatian: лутња — stringed instrument
  • Serbo-Croatian: лаута — stringed instrument
  • Serbo-Croatian: lutnja — stringed instrument
  • Serbo-Croatian: lauta — stringed instrument
  • Slovak: lutna — stringed instrument
  • Slovene: lutnja — stringed instrument
  • Spanish: laúd — stringed instrument
  • Swahili: gambusi — stringed instrument
  • Swedish: luta — stringed instrument
  • Tagalog: laud — stringed instrument
  • Tamil: வீணை (vīṇai) — stringed instrument
  • Telugu: వీణ (vīṇa) — stringed instrument
  • Thai: พิณ (pin) — stringed instrument
  • Thai: กระจับปี่ (grà-jàp-bpìi) — stringed instrument
  • Turkish: ut — stringed instrument
  • Turkish: lavta — stringed instrument
  • Ugaritic: 𐎓𐎄 (ʿd) — stringed instrument
  • Ukrainian: лю́тня (ljútnja) — stringed instrument
  • Venetan: lauto — stringed instrument
  • Vietnamese: đàn luýt — stringed instrument
  • Volapük: lüt — stringed instrument
  • Welsh: liwt — stringed instrument
  • Bulgarian: замазка (zamazka) — Thick sticky clay or cement
  • Turkish: lökün — Thick sticky clay or cement
  • Ottoman Turkish: لوكون (lökün) — Thick sticky clay or cement
  • Bulgarian: мастар (mastar) — A straight-edged piece of wood