The choice of "flautist" (from the Italian flautista, from flauto, and adopted due to
18th century Italian influence) versus "flutist" is the source of minor dispute
among players of the instrument. "Flutist" is the earlier term in the English
language, dating from at least 1603 (the earliest quote cited by the Oxford English
Dictionary), while "flautist" is not recorded before 1860, when it was used by
Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Marble Faun. While the print version of the OED does
not indicate any regional preference for either form, the online Compact OED
characterizes "flutist" as an American usage.[1]
Richard Rockstro in his three volume treatise The Flute[2] written in England in
1890 uses "flute-player".
The American player and writer Nancy Toff, in her The Flute Book, devotes more
than a page to the subject, commenting that she is asked "Are you a flutist or a
flautist?" on a weekly basis. She says, "Ascribe my insistence either to a modest
lack of pretension or to etymological evidence; the result is the same." She
describes in some detail the etymology of words for "flute". (She is an editor for
Oxford University Press.[1]) She compares OED, Fowler's Dictionary of Modern
Usage, Evans' Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage, and Copperud's
American Usage and Style: The Consensus. Fowler says "flautist" has displaced
"flutist" in usage, though "flautist" is not so popular in the USA. She prefers
"flutist" personally and etymologically.[3]
The first edition of the OED lists fluter as dating from circa 1400 and Fowler's
Modern English Usage[4] states that "there seems no good reason" why flautist
should have prevailed over fluter or flutist. However, according to Webster's
Dictionary of English Usage,[5] flautist is the preferred term in British English, and
while both terms are used in American English flutist is "by far the more common
choice".
James Galway summed up the way many players of the flute feel about
"flautist", saying, "I am a flute player, not a flautist. I don't have a flaut, and
I've never flauted."
Flautist of Flutist?