Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

'Etude \['E]`tude"\ ([asl]`t[.u]d"), n. [F. See {Study}.]
   1. A composition in the fine arts which is intended, or may
      serve, for a study.

   2. (Mus.) A study; an exercise; a piece for practice of some
      special point of technical execution.