German flute

English

German +‎ flute, likely because it originated in Germany.

German flute (plural German flutes)

(music, now chiefly historical) A transverse flute. [from 18th c.]
- 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, chapter 30, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume I, London: Harrison and Co., […], published 1781, OCLC 316121541:
  He had made great progress in the gymnastic sciences of dancing, fencing and riding, played perfectly well on the German flute, and above all things valued himself upon a scrupulous observance of all the points of honour.
- 1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary: A Fiction‎:
  One of the gentlemen played on the violin, and the other on the german-flute.

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