flute
/flu(ː)t/
"flute" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“flute” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,541. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #14,541
- frequency rank, English
- 18,613
- “F” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A 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...
Corpus desk
Index EN-flute · flute · English
flute · rank #14,541 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #14,541
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 18,613
- PHOTO-FINISH fluent
Nearest frequency peer: fluent (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “flute”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Fischer
Fischer
85,463 corpus weight
- flirt
flirt
85,462 corpus weight
- fluent
fluent
85,461 corpus weight
- flute
flute
85,460 corpus weight
- footprint
footprint
85,459 corpus weight
- forefront
forefront
85,457 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “flute” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | flute |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /flu(ː)t/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #14,541 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “flute” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around flute (IPA /flu(ː)t/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,541 among 18,613 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for flute, with forms such as "fflute", "fllute", and "fltue". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "FTE", "fut", "fuse", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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”)… The correct English form is flute, spelled F-L-U-T-E.
Definition
- 1A 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.
- 2A recorder, also a woodwind instrument.
- 3A glass with a long, narrow bowl and a long stem, used for drinking wine, especially champagne.
- 4A lengthwise groove, such as one of the lengthwise grooves on a classical column, or a groove on a cutting tool (such as a drill bit, endmill, or reamer), which helps to form both a cutting edge and a channel through which chips can escape.
- 5A semicylindrical vertical groove, as in a pillar, in plaited cloth, or in a rifle barrel to cut down the weight.
- 6A long French bread roll, baguette.
- 7An organ stop with a flute-like sound.
- 8A shuttle in weaving tapestry etc.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how flute appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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.
The group played huge drums placed overhead, along with flutes and a kotolike zither.
Etymology
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.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- fflute
- fllute
- fltue
- fluet
- flutte
- fulte
- lfute
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of flute - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "flute"?
What does "flute" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "flute", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.