flute
/flu(ː)t/
"flute" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“flute” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #14,541 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #14,541
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 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...
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
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for flute is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /flu(ː)t/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,541 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “flute”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-L-U-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /flu(ː)t/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “FTE” - see the side-by-side comparison. flute vs FTE
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.