lute

UK: /ˈluːt/ US: /lut/ ,(lo̅o̅t)

Inflections of 'lute' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

lutes

v 3rd person singular

luting

v pres p

luted

v past

luted

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

lute¹ /lut/   n. [countable]

1. Music and Dance a musical instrument with strings, a long neck with frets, and a hollow, typically pear-shaped body.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

lute¹  (lo̅o̅t), n., v., lut•ed, lut•ing. 
n. 

1. Music and Dance a stringed musical instrument having a long, fretted neck and a hollow, typically pear-shaped body with a vaulted back.

v.i. 

2. Music and Dance to play a lute.

v.t. 

3. Music and Dance to perform (music) on a lute:
   a musician skilled at luting Elizabethan ballads.
4. to express (a feeling, mood, etc.) by means of a lute:
   The minstrel eloquently luted his melancholy.

• Arabic al ‘ūd literally, the wood
• Old Provencal laut
• Middle French, Old French
• Middle English 1325–75

lute²  (lo̅o̅t), n., v., lut•ed, lut•ing. 
n. 

1. Building luting.

v.t. 

2. Building to seal or cement with luting.

• Medieval Latin lutum, special use of Latin lutum mud, clay
• late Middle English 1375–1425

lute³  (lo̅o̅t), n., v., lut•ed, lut•ing. 
n. 

1. Building a paving tool for spreading and smoothing concrete, consisting of a straightedge mounted transversely on a long handle.

v.t. 

2. Building to spread and smooth (concrete in a pavement) with a lute.

• Dutch loet
• 1870–75, American.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

lute / luːt/ noun

1. an ancient plucked stringed instrument, consisting of a long fingerboard with frets and gut strings, and a body shaped like a sliced pear

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French lut, via Old Provençal from Arabic al 'ūd, literally: the wood

lute / luːt/ noun

1. Also called: luting a mixture of cement and clay used to seal the joints between pipes, etc
2. a thin layer of cement used to fix a crown or inlay in place on a tooth

verb

1. (transitive) to seal (a joint or surface) with lute

Etymology: 14th Century: via Old French ultimately from Latin lutum clay