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.
Meanings
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.
One version of the large tuba, popular in marching bands, is called a sousaphone in honor of bandsman John Philip Sousa. 1990, Thomas D. Rossing, The Science of Sound, page 230:
cmn 大號 /大号 (a large brass musical instrument) · pt tuba (a large brass musical instrument) · et tuuba (a large brass musical instrument) · it tuba (a large brass musical instrument) · mr टूबा (a large brass musical instrument) · ga tiúba (a large brass musical instrument) · is túba (a large brass musical instrument) · pl tuba (a large brass musical instrument) · eo tubjo (a large brass musical instrument) · haw pū leo uō (a large brass musical instrument) · nl tuba (a large brass musical instrument) · id tuba (a large brass musical instrument) · fr tuba (a large brass musical instrument) · mi pūnguru (a large brass musical instrument) · ko 튜바 (a large brass musical instrument) · sl tuba (a large brass musical instrument) · es tuba (a large brass musical instrument) · lt tūba (a large brass musical instrument) · fi tuuba (a large brass musical instrument) · ja チューバ (a large brass musical instrument) · sw tuba (a large brass musical instrument) · vo tubat (a large brass musical instrument) · hu tuba (a large brass musical instrument) · cs tuba (a large brass musical instrument) · bg туба (a large brass musical instrument) · cy tiwba (a large brass musical instrument) · ca tuba (a large brass musical instrument) · yo túbà (a large brass musical instrument) · gl tuba (a large brass musical instrument) · ru ту́ба (a large brass musical instrument) · de Tuba (a large brass musical instrument)
tuba en · NOUN · etymology 2
Pronunciation
/ˈtʊ.bə/
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin tuba.
Meanings
A tube or tubular organ.
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). 1958, Oliver P[ayne] Pearson, “Phyllotis andium”, in A Taxonomic Revision of the Rodent Genus Phyllotis (University of California Publications in Zoology; volume 56, number 4), Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, →OCLC, page 437:
A type of Roman military trumpet, distinct from the modern tuba.
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. 1968, Roger Bragard, Ferdinand J[oseph] de Hen, translated by Bill Hopkins, “Wind Instruments”, in Musical Instruments in Art and History (A Studio Book), New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, part II (The Middle Ages), page 60:
As he drew nearer to Worms, he heard the brassy blare of Roman tubae from the ruddy sandstone walls of the city. 1994 April, Stephan Grundy, “Along the Rhine”, in Rhinegold, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN, book III (The Death of Athelings), page 451:
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. 1986, Raymond Buniak, A Twentieth-Century Treatise on the Trombone, [Bartlett, Ill.]: Raymond Buniak, →OCLC: