tuba

See also: Tuba, túba, and tuba'

English

Etymology 1

A tuba (sense 1).

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtjuː.bə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtu.bə/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːbə

Noun

tuba (plural tubas)

1. 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.
   • 1990, Thomas D. Rossing, The Science of Sound, page 230:

     One version of the large tuba, popular in marching bands, is called a sousaphone in honor of bandsman John Philip Sousa.

2. A large reed stop in organs.

Synonyms

• grunt-horn

Derived terms

• cumulonimbus tuba
• sax tuba
• tubaist
• tubalike
• tubist
• Wagner tuba
• war tuba

Translations

a large brass musical instrument

• Bulgarian: туба f (tuba)
• Catalan: tuba (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大號 / 大号 (zh) (dàhào)

• Czech: tuba (cs) f
• Dutch: tuba (nl) m
• Esperanto: tubjo
• Estonian: tuuba
• Finnish: tuuba (fi)
• French: tuba (fr) m
• Galician: tuba (gl) f
• German: Tuba (de) f
• Hawaiian: pū leo uō
• Hungarian: tuba (hu)
• Icelandic: túba f
• Indonesian: tuba (id)
• Irish: tiúba m
• Italian: tuba (it) f
• Japanese: チューバ (ja) (chūba)
• Korean: 튜바 (tyuba)
• Lithuanian: tūba
• Maori: pūnguru
• Marathi: टूबा (ṭūbā)
• Polish: tuba (pl) f
• Portuguese: tuba (pt) f
• Russian: ту́ба (ru) f (túba)
• Slovene: tuba f
• Spanish: tuba (es) f
• Swahili: tuba
• Volapük: tubat
• Welsh: tiwba
• Yoruba: túbà

See also

• euphonium, sousaphone
• tube
• tubular
• corno basso (keyed bass horn)
• bombardon
• ophicleide
• valve-ophicleide
• bucina
• cornu

Further reading

• “tuba”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• tuba on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Roman tuba on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Mosaic showing the Roman tuba (sense 2) and its size in relation to its player, circa 4th century A.D. Villa Romana del Casale, Piazza Armerina, Sicily, Italy

Learned borrowing from Latin tuba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtʊ.bə/

Noun

tuba (plural tubas or tubae)

1. (anatomy) A tube or tubular organ.
   • 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:

     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).

2. A type of Roman military trumpet, distinct from the modern tuba.
   • 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:

     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.

   • 1986, Raymond Buniak, A Twentieth-Century Treatise on the Trombone‎^[1], [Bartlett, Ill.]: Raymond Buniak, →OCLC:

     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.

   • 1994 April, Stephan Grundy, “Along the Rhine”, in Rhinegold, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, →ISBN, book III (The Death of Athelings), page 451:

     As he drew nearer to Worms, he heard the brassy blare of Roman tubae from the ruddy sandstone walls of the city.

Further reading

• Roman tuba on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Malay tuba.

Noun

tuba (uncountable)

1. A Malayan plant whose roots are a significant source of rotenone, Derris malaccensis.

Further reading

• Derris on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Derris on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Derris on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Etymology 4

Borrowed from Tagalog tuba.

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /tuˈbə/
• (Philippines) IPA^(key): /tuˈbaʔ/

Noun

tuba (uncountable)

1. (Philippines) A reddish palm wine made from coconut or nipa sap.

Anagrams

• Batu, Taub, abut, batu, buat, buta, tabu

Bangi

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *-tób.

Verb

tuba

1. to pierce

Cebuano

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *tuba. First attested in Antonio Pigafetta's Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo—detailing the first circumnavigation of the world between 1519 and 1522.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: tu‧bâ
• (Standard Cebuano) IPA^(key): /tʊˈbaʔ/

Noun

tubâ (Badlit spelling ᜆᜓᜊ)

1. a reddish palm wine made from coconut or nipa sap
   • 2016 — Sumagang, Emeterio S., Barkada (20 January), Bisaya, Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation

     Sakit sa ulo sa ilang isigkaginikanan ang barkada. Walay usa nga nakatapos og kurso kay pulos tapolan moeskuyla. Hilig sa pamayabas, matod pa. Dunay publikong kolehiyo sa lungsod nga ang balayranan maabot sa bolsa sa ilang mga ginikanan apan gipalabi nila ang bagdoy-bagdoy. Wala silay mga trabaho ug nagpabuhi lang sa ilang mga ginikanan nga igo-igo ra sad ang kahimtang. Gidagnayan silag sunog-baga kay sobra kapalahubog. Tanan lalaon— tuba, serbesa, ram, wiski, brandi; baratohon o mahalon, lokal o imported. Kay way sapi, manggeyt kras silas mga kasal, bunyag ug birtdey parti aron makakaon ug makainom nga libre. Kadumdom silas patron sa tanang baryo sa lungsod sa Maigo kay way pista nga palabyon.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2017 — Tiu, Macario D., Laghan (27 June), Bisag Unsa, Mindaviews, MindaNews

     Nagkaon nig itlog sa pawikan ug nag-inom og tuba pinaagi sa pagsuyop niini gikan sa banga gamit ang straw (tingali gamayng kawayan).

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• → English: tuba
• → Tagalog: tubâ

See also

• bahal
• bahalina

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: tu‧ba
• (Standard Cebuano) IPA^(key): /tʊˈba/

Verb

tuba (Badlit spelling ᜆᜓᜊ)

1. to cut down
2. to harvest banana fruits
   • 2010 — Panilagao, Bartolome M., Mutya sa Saging Gardaba (24 May), Sugilanon, Kalingawan, Banat News

     Ambot unsang hitaboa, nga nahitiurok man si Miyoy, niadtong usa ka punoan nga saging gardaba, nga miali sa iyang paglakaw? Imbis mopaingon na unta siya sa dagat, iya naman hinuon kini nga gituba, aron dad-on sa iyang pinuy-anan ug malung-ag ni Nisya, nga sarang ikapamahaw sa iyang tulo ka buok anak nga pulos nagkutoy ang tiyan sa kagutom?

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtuba]

Noun

tuba f

1. tube (a cylindrical container)
2. tuba (a large brass musical instrument)

Declension

Declension of tuba (hard feminine)

	singular	plural
nominative	tuba	tuby
genitive	tuby	tub
dative	tubě	tubám
accusative	tubu	tuby
vocative	tubo	tuby
locative	tubě	tubách
instrumental	tubou	tubami

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from German Tuba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈty.baː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: tu‧ba

Noun

tuba m (plural tuba's, diminutive tubaatje n)

1. tuba (large brass musical instrument)

References

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “tuba”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

Further reading

• Tuba (instrument) on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

Estonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *tupa, from Proto-Germanic *stubō. Cognate to Livonian tubā, Finnish tupa, Icelandic stofa, German Stube, Swedish stuga.

Noun

tuba (genitive toa, partitive tuba)

1. room, chamber

Declension

Declension of tuba (ÕS type 18e/tuba, b-ø gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		tuba	toad
accusative	nom.
	gen.	toa
genitive			tubade
partitive		tuba	tube tubasid
illative		tuppa toasse	tubadesse
inessive		toas	tubades
elative		toast	tubadest
allative		toale	tubadele
adessive		toal	tubadel
ablative		toalt	tubadelt
translative		toaks	tubadeks
terminative		toani	tubadeni
essive		toana	tubadena
abessive		toata	tubadeta
comitative		toaga	tubadega

Derived terms

• elutuba
• hotellituba
• klassituba
• lastetuba
• magamistuba
• söögituba
• tagatuba
• töötuba
• vannituba

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ty.ba/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

tuba m (plural tubas)

1. tuba
2. snorkel
3. funnel cloud (or tub; see cumulonimbus tuba)

Further reading

• “tuba”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• buta

Galician

Noun

tuba f (plural tubas)

1. tuba

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtubɒ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: tu‧ba
• Rhymes: -bɒ

Noun

tuba (plural tubák)

1. (music) tuba

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	tuba	tubák
accusative	tubát	tubákat
dative	tubának	tubáknak
instrumental	tubával	tubákkal
causal-final	tubáért	tubákért
translative	tubává	tubákká
terminative	tubáig	tubákig
essive-formal	tubaként	tubákként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	tubában	tubákban
superessive	tubán	tubákon
adessive	tubánál	tubáknál
illative	tubába	tubákba
sublative	tubára	tubákra
allative	tubához	tubákhoz
elative	tubából	tubákból
delative	tubáról	tubákról
ablative	tubától	tubáktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	tubáé	tubáké
non-attributive possessive – plural	tubáéi	tubákéi

Possessive forms of tuba

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	tubám	tubáim
2nd person sing.	tubád	tubáid
3rd person sing.	tubája	tubái
1st person plural	tubánk	tubáink
2nd person plural	tubátok	tubáitok
3rd person plural	tubájuk	tubáik

Further reading

• ([music] tuba): tuba in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• ([folksy] dove; darling): tuba in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• tuba in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtuba/
• Rhymes: -ba, -a
• Hyphenation: tu‧ba

Etymology 1

Inherited from Malay tuba, from Classical Malay توبا (tuba), from Old Malay [script needed] (tūva), from Proto-Malayic *tuba, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tubah, from Proto-Austronesian *tubah (“Derris elliptica”).

Noun

tuba (plural tuba-tuba)

1. poison

   Hypernym: racun

2. a Malayan plant whose roots are a significant source of rotenone, Derris malaccensis

Derived terms

• menuba
• menubai

• tuba tikus

Etymology 2

From Latin tuba (“tube, trumpet, military trumpet”).

Noun

tuba (plural tuba-tuba)

1. tube

   Synonyms: saluran, tabung, tube

   Synonym: tiub (Standard Malay)

2. (music) tuba: 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

Related terms

• tubular

Further reading

• “tuba”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtu.ba/
• Rhymes: -uba
• Hyphenation: tù‧ba

Etymology 1

From Latin tuba.

Noun

tuba f (plural tube)

1. (music) tuba
2. top hat

   Synonym: cilindro

3. (anatomy) tube

   Synonym: tuba di Falloppio

Derived terms

• tubarico

Derived terms

• tuba bassa
• tuba contrabbassa
• tuba tenore
• tuba grave
• tuba wagneriana

See also

• elicone
• sousaphone
• bombardone
• euphonium

Etymology 2

Verb

tuba

1. inflection of tubare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• tuba¹ in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• tabù

Kituba

Verb

tuba

1. to say

Latin

Etymology

Possibly connected to tībia (“shinbone, reed-pipe”) with similarities in meaning and form.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈtʊ.ba]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtuː.ba]

Noun

tuba f (genitive tubae); first declension

1. (literally, music) long trumpet over 1 meter in length, especially a war-trumpet
2. (transferred sense)
   1. signal for war, war
   2. loud sound
      1. sonorous, elevated epic poetry
      2. lofty style of speaking
3. (figurative) exciter, author, instigator

Inflection

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	tuba	tubae
genitive	tubae	tubārum
dative	tubae	tubīs
accusative	tubam	tubās
ablative	tubā	tubīs
vocative	tuba	tubae

Derived terms

• tūbārius
• tubicen
• tubilustrium
• tubula
• tubus

Descendants

Descendants

• → English: tuba
• → French: tuba
• → Galician: tuba
• → Italian: tuba
• → Russian: ту́ба (túba)

Further reading

• “tuba”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tuba”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "tuba", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “tuba”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the bugle, trumpet sounds before the general's tent: classicum or tuba canit ad praetorium
    
• “tuba”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “tuba”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• Michiel de Vaan (2008), Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden: Brill

Lingala

Verb

-tuba (infinitive kotuba)

Etymology

Borrowed from Bangi tuba.

1. to pierce

Livonian

Noun

tuba

1. Salaca form of tubā (“room”)

References

• Andreas Johan Sjögren, Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann (1861), Livisch-deutsches und deutsch-livisches Wörterbuch
• Pajusalu, Karl & Winkler, Eberhard, Salis-livisches Wörterbuch (2009). Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia. Tallinn.

Malay

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Malayic *tuba, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tubah, from Proto-Austronesian *tubah.

First attested in the Kota Kapur inscription, 686 AD, as Old Malay [script needed] (tūva),

Pronunciation

• (schwa-variety) IPA^(key): /ˈtubə/ [ˈt̪u.bə]
  • Rhymes: -ubə, -bə, -ə
• (Baku, schwa-variety) IPA^(key): /ˈtuba/ [ˈt̪u.ba]
  • Rhymes: -uba, -ba, -a
• Hyphenation: tu‧ba

Noun

tuba (Jawi spelling توبا, plural tuba-tuba or tuba²)

1. (fishing) fish poison made from plant roots

   Hypernym: racun

2. a Malayan plant whose roots are a significant source of rotenone, Derris malaccensis.

Derived terms

Affixations

• dituba
• ditubai
• menuba
• menubai
• penuba
• penubaan

Compounds

• tuba tikus

Descendants

• > Indonesian: tuba (inherited)
• → English: tuba

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English tuba, from Latin tuba (“tube, trumpet, military trumpet”).

Pronunciation

• (schwa-variety) IPA^(key): /ˈtubə/ [ˈt̪u.bə]
• Rhymes: -ubə, -bə, -ə
• (Baku, Riau-Lingga) IPA^(key): /ˈtuba/ [ˈt̪u.ba]
• Rhymes: -uba, -ba, -a
• Hyphenation: tu‧ba

Noun

tuba (Jawi spelling توبا, plural tuba-tuba or tuba²)

1. (music) tuba: 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.

Further reading

• “tuba”, in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu [Malay Literary Reference Centre] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin tuba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtu.ba/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uba
• Syllabification: tu‧ba

Noun

tuba f (diminutive tubka)

1. tube (cylindrical container)
2. tuba (large brass musical instrument)
3. tube scarf (shawl in which the ends are stitched together, interposed several times around the neck when put on in order to surround this part of the body with a thick and high layer of knitted or woven fabric to protect against the cold)

   Synonym: komin

   Hypernym: szal

Declension

Declension of tuba

	singular	plural
nominative	tuba	tuby
genitive	tuby	tub
dative	tubie	tubom
accusative	tubę	tuby
instrumental	tubą	tubami
locative	tubie	tubach
vocative	tubo	tuby

Further reading

• tuba in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• tuba in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin tuba.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈtu.bɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈtu.bɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈtu.ba/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈtu.bɐ/ [ˈtu.βɐ]

• Rhymes: -ubɐ
• Hyphenation: tu‧ba

Noun

tuba f (plural tubas)

1. (music) tuba (a large brass musical instrument)

Spanish

Etymology

From Tagalog tuba or Cebuano tuba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtuba/ [ˈt̪u.β̞a]
• Rhymes: -uba
• Syllabification: tu‧ba

Noun

tuba f (uncountable)

1. (Mexico, Philippines) coconut wine made from sweet coconut sap

Descendants

• → Chamorro: tuba

Further reading

• “tuba”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Tagalog

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Philippine *tubaʔ. Compare Ilocano tuba, Kapampangan tuba, Calamian Tagbanwa tëw̓a, Tagbanwa teba, Bikol Central tuba, Aklanon tuba, Cebuano tuba, Hiligaynon tuba, Maranao tiba' / toba, Western Bukidnon Manobo teba, and Tausug tuba'. See also Malay tuak, Javanese ꦠꦸꦮꦏ꧀ (tuwak), and Old Javanese twak.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /tuˈbaʔ/ [t̪ʊˈbaʔ]
• Rhymes: -aʔ
• Syllabification: tu‧ba

Noun

tubâ (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜓᜊ)

1. tubâ, a palm wine created from the sap of various species of palm trees

Derived terms

• ipanuba
• manuba
• manunuba
• pagtutubaan
• tubaan
• tubain

Descendants

• → Spanish: tuba

See also

• lambanog

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tubah, from Proto-Austronesian *tubah (“Derris elliptica”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈtuba/ [ˈt̪uː.bɐ]
• Rhymes: -uba
• Syllabification: tu‧ba

Noun

tuba (Baybayin spelling ᜆᜓᜊ)

1. purging croton (a kind of croton plant the seeds of which is used to make croton oil)
2. croton oil
3. fish poison made from this plant
4. act of poisoning fish (with such a poison)

   Synonym: pagtuba

Derived terms

• pagtuba
• tubahin

Further reading

• “tuba”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• Noceda, Fr. Juan José de; Sanlucar, Fr. Pedro de (1860), Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, compuesto por varios religiosos doctos y graves, y coordinado por…, ultimamente aumentado y corregido por varios religiosos de la Orden de Agustinos calzados.‎^[3] (overall work in Spanish and Classical Tagalog), Manila: Ramírez y Giraudier.

Anagrams

• utab

Ternate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtu.ba]

Verb

tuba

1. (stative) to be piled

Conjugation

Conjugation of tuba

		singular	plural
			inclusive	exclusive
1st person		totuba	fotuba	mituba
2nd person		notuba	nituba
3rd person	masculine	otuba	ituba yotuba (archaic)
	feminine	motuba
	neuter	ituba

References

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001), A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh