Nut

Nut 1. (Fr.: sillet; Ger.: Sattel; It.: capotasto), on stringed instrs. having a neck, a raised ridge of ebony, ivory, etc., glued to the upper end of the neck. It raises the strings over the fingerboard and determines one end of their speaking length. The term has been taken over from lutherie and applied to stringed keyboard instrs. also; 2. Brit. term for frog.