tuba
/ˈtu.bə/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.84 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A large brass musical instrument, usually in the bass range, played through a vibration of the lips upon the mouthpiece and fingering of the keys.
noun
A Malayan plant whose roots are a significant source of rotenone, Derris malaccensis.
Uncountable
noun
Abbreviation of bass tuba.
name
A municipality of Benguet, Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines.
Example Sentences
- "One version of the large tuba, popular in marching bands, is called a sousaphone in honor of bandsman John Philip Sousa."
- "Compared with skulls of darwini, skulls of andium are smaller with shorter tooth rows (fig. 13), have less globular bullae that taper more gradually to the tubae, and a shorter, proportionately narrower rostrum with nasals usually relatively blunt behind and seldom projecting posteriorly far behind the premaxillae (pl. 11)."
- "From the eleventh century onwards, the trumpets, which had till then been modelled on the Roman tubae with their straightforward and somewhat rough sound, began to grow longer and thinner as their bells widened."
- "This depicts trumpet blowing angels gripping instruments, of the Roman tubae variety, halfway down with the right hand, the left hand covering their mouth and the mouthpiece."
- "As he drew nearer to Worms, he heard the brassy blare of Roman tubae from the ruddy sandstone walls of the city."
Etymology
Borrowed in the 19th century from French tuba (“tuba”), German Tuba (“tuba”), originally Baß-Tuba (literally “bass tuba”), or Italian tuba (“tuba”), from Latin tuba (“tube, trumpet, military trumpet”). The Latin term is of obscure ultimate origin, but is possibly connected to tībia (“shinbone, reed-pipe”); see there.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: tuba
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈtu.bə/
- British English: /ˈtjuː.bə/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Music.