If someone says the word flute, everyone knows straight away what they mean. Why is a flute called a flute though? The word itself doesn’t really give any clues – it’s just something we’ve learnt. All words come from somewhere, though, so I’ve been reading up on the origins of the word and how it came to mean the instrument we know today.
The word flute first appeared in its current form in the 14th century. It was derived from the French word “flaut” which dates back to the 12th century. The origin of this is unclear, but it possibly derives from the Latin word “flare”, meaning “to blow”.
The flute is one of the oldest instruments, so the word itself is naturally very old too. It’s origins are a bit unclear but there are some things we can infer. There have been a lot of variations on the word flute over the years and I’ll try to put them in some kind of order and say how they relate to each other.
I have listed some things to consider when looking into the etymology of a word below. I will try to use these throughout while going through the origins of the flute. The things I consider are:
- Which parts of the world use the term?
- Is the word still used as its original meaning?
- When is the first known usage of the word?
- Are there any obvious words the word in question could be derived from?
I’ll use each of these bullet points to help me to draw some conclusions on the origin of the word “flute”.
When was the first use of the word “flute”?
The word “flute” exactly as we spell it today, is thought to have first been used during the early 14th century. It was used to mean pretty much the same thing as it means today – a instrument, at that time made of bone of wood, that has tone holes and produces a sound when blown.
Originally, flutes were not necessarily played to the side as we see them today. The sideways type were (and sometimes still are) called transverse flutes. Other pipe instruments, such as the recorder, which are played to the front of the body were originally also referred to as flutes.
Where did the term “flute” originate?
The term “flute” seems to have derived from the French word, “flaut”, which was first used in the 12th century. As far as we can see, there is no obvious origin for this term. It could simply have been invented by someone, but there are a few guesses people have had as to where the word came from, some of which seem more likely than others.
One potential origin of “flaut” is the word “flare”. This is a Latin word and means “to blow”. It’s certainly not impossible that “flaut” is derived from “flare” but there is also no evidence to suggest it is, other than the closeness of the words. Saying that, however, many French words are derived from Latin and the fact that “flare” means “to blow” does seem like a bit of a coincidence.
Another possible influence for the word “flaut” is “laut”. The English word “lute” is directly derived from the Provencal word “laut” and has the same meaning. These words are very similar so there could be a connection there, but again, it’s possible it’s just a coincidence. The connection to music may be the thing that links them and “flaut” could possibly even be a combination of both words together.
Which parts of the world use the term flute, or a similar derivation?
The word “flute” exactly as we say and spell it, is used only in English speaking countries. This already spreads the use of the word to lots of countries. However, variations and derivations of it are used widely around the world. It seems to be the case that all languages with a Latin influence use some variation on the word flute. Some examples of this are the Italian “flauto” and the Spanish “flauta”.
Germanic languages also have related words – the German word for flute is “flöte”. Scandinavian languages are also Germanic and we see variations on this there too – for example, the Swedish word for flute is “flöjt”. Even in Japanese, the word for flute is (phonetically) “furūto”, which has clearly been influenced by the French “flaut”.
On the other hand, the word “flute” is not seen in all Asian languages. It’s thought that some of the first flutes originated in China. These had the name “ch-ie”. The term for a modern flute in China is now (phonetically) “Changdi”. This has similarities to the original term, “ch-ie”, but nothing in common at all with the term “flaut”.
Has the word flute kept its original meaning?
We now have some more knowledge on the origin of the word flute, but now I want to say a few things about the meaning. Earlier, I said that the term originally encompassed not just transverse flutes, but also recorders and other pipe instruments. It has come to mean just the transverse flute in this country, but in some countries, the recorder is still referred to as a flute.
The original meaning of the word flute does appear to be the instrument, albeit including other pipe instruments. Today, however, there are several other meanings for the word flute. These are not the original terms, rather, they are terms that have been used because someone has seen something in common with them and the flute the instrument. Often, this seems to be connected to the tube shape of the flute.
One example of the use of the word flute is the baguette-like bread. This is called a flute because it’s long and thin, like a flute. Some of the other uses of the word are less obvious. It is possible for an object to be “fluted”. This means it has some kind of ridges or grooves. These are always curved, so the link could possibly come from the round curves being a similar shape to the tube of the flute, but this is unclear.
Summary
To sum this post up, the term flute was first found as “flaut” in France in the 12th century. The exact etymology of this is unclear but it is likely to derive from the Latin word “flare” meaning “to blow”. Many languages around the world use variations on the word “flute” and the word has since been expanded to include several other definitions, though the first definition referred to the instrument, including other pipe instruments.