The Age-Old Debate: Flutist or Flautist?

People who play the flute have been named many things throughout history: flute players, fluters, even fluteists and flutomaters! But there are two common terms we cannot seem to agree on: flutist or flautist (that is the question).   

The term flute dates back to the Old Provençal term flaut in the 12th century, speculated to have been influenced by the Provençal laut meaning 'lute.' This transformed through Old English and French to flaute, flahute and flahuste. Modern French then deviated from the path with flûte, giving us an obvious connection to the modern English flute. It then seems logical that a person who plays the flute would be a flutist.  

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first written record of flutist was in 1603, whilst flautist was not recorded until 1860 in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Marble Faun (also known as Transformation). As Hawthorne travelled through Italy in the years before publication, some speculate he was influenced by the Italian term flautista. This Italian influence has since become prominent in British English, with many flute players asserting that flautist is simply the British English version of the American English flutist, much like colour and color. Flautist is, therefore, the prominent term used in Australia.  

This debate has rubbed many a flute player the wrong way. Flute historian and Oxford University Press executive editor Nancy Toff is a passionate advocate for the term flutist, painting flautist negatively by drawing parallels between flautist and flaut or flout, to mock or scoff at. She also insists on the "simple linguistic logic" behind the correctness of the term (Toff 2012, xvi). James Galway has previously taken a similar stance, advocating that “I am a flute player, not a flautist. I don’t have a flaut and I’ve never flauted.”  

So, which term is correct? Linguistically speaking, flutist has more logic and evidence. However, we cannot dismiss the pervasiveness of the regional differences between American and British English. Therefore, the decision is up to you. Perhaps in reading this article, you've learnt something you didn't know before and have changed your mind, or affirmed your current decision, or maybe you like the sound of flutomater after all. Whatever the decision, we all have a common passion that will continue to transcend language and regional boundaries.  

Reference 

Toff, Nancy. 2012. "Terminology Used in this Book." In The Flute Book: A Complete Guide for Students and Performers. New York: Oxford University Press.