Editing Lute (section)

== Etymology ==
The words ''lute'' and ''oud'' possibly derive from [[Arabic language|Arabic]] ''al-ʿoud'' ({{lang|ar|العود}}{{nbsp}}- literally means "the wood"). It may refer to the wooden [[plectrum]] traditionally used for playing the oud, to the thin strips of wood used for the back, or to the wooden soundboard that distinguished it from similar instruments with skin-faced bodies.<ref name="Iranica">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/barbat |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |title=Barbat |last=During |first=Jean |date=1988-12-15 |access-date=2012-02-04}}</ref>

Many theories have been proposed for the origin of the Arabic name. Music scholar Eckhard Neubauer suggested that ''oud'' may be an Arabic borrowing from the [[Persian language|Persian]] word ''rōd'' or ''rūd'', which meant string.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=9}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Pourjavady|first1= Amir Hossein |date= Autumn 2000 – Winter 2001|title= Journal Article Review Reviewed Works: The Science of Music in Islam. Vols. 1-2, Studies in Oriental Music by Henry George Farmer, Eckhard Neubauer; The Science of Music in Islam. Vol. 3, Arabisch Musiktheorie von den Anfängen bis zum 6./12. Jahrhundert by Eckhard Neubauer, Fuat Sezgin; The Science of Music in Islam. Vol. 4, Der Essai sur la musique orientale von Charles Fonton mit Zeichnungen von Adanson by Eckhard Neubauer, Fuat Sezgin |journal=Asian Music |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=206–209 |doi= 10.2307/834339|jstor= 834339 }}</ref> Another researcher, [[Ancient music|archaeomusicologist]] [[Richard Dumbrill (musicologist)|Richard J. Dumbrill]], suggests that ''rud'' came from the [[Sanskrit]] ''rudrī'' (रुद्री, meaning "string instrument") and transferred to Arabic and European languages by way of a [[Semitic languages|Semitic language]].<ref name=dumbrill>{{harvnb|Dumbrill|1998|p=319}}. "'rud' comes from the Sanskrit 'rudrī' which means 'stringed instrument' [...] The word spreads on the one hand via the Indo-European medium into the Spanish 'rota'; French 'rotte'; Welsh 'crwth', etc, and on the other, via the Semitic medium, into Arabic 'ud; Ugaritic 'd; Spanish 'laúd'; German 'Laute'; French 'luth'"</ref> However another theory, according to Semitic language scholars, is that the Arabic ''ʿoud'' is derived from [[Syriac alphabet|Syriac]] ''ʿoud-a'', meaning "wooden stick" and "burning wood"—cognate to [[Biblical Hebrew]] '''ūḏ'', referring to a stick used to stir logs in a fire.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.assyrianlanguages.org/sureth/dosearch.php?searchkey=17090&language=id |title=Search Entry |website=www.assyrianlanguages.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://biblehub.com/hebrew/181.htm |title=Strong's Hebrew: 181. אוּד (ud) -- a brand, firebrand |website=biblehub.com|access-date=2018-03-24}}</ref> [[Henry George Farmer]] notes the similarity between ''{{transliteration|ar|DIN|al-ʿūd}} ''and ''al-ʿawda'' ("the return" – of bliss).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Farmer |first=Henry George|year=1939|title=The Structure of the Arabian and Persian Lute in the Middle Ages |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |pages=41–51 [49]}}</ref>