Etymologically
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tuba

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈtʊ.ba][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtuː.ba][1]

Forms

tuba f (genitive tubae); first declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[2][3] De Vaan notes that its meaning and form recall tībia “reed pipe; shinbone”, which may be cognate with Ancient Greek σίφων (síphōn, “tube”) and point to a borrowing from a non-Indo-European language.[2][1] The OLD and Lewis and Short connect tubus “tube”.[4][5] Isidore of Seville says the trumpet was invented by the Etruscans, quoting Virgil's Tyrrhenian trumpet.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a straight trumpet, as opposed to the curved cornū, used to give military signals, as Ennius' trumpet that said taratantara with a terrible sound and Caesar's Vercingetorix who gave the signal by trumpet.[4][5] It was also blown at religious festivals, games and funerals, and figuratively it meant an instigator, as Cicero's trumpet of civil war, and lofty epic poetry in Martial.[5] Vitruvius uses it of a pipe in a hydraulic machine.[4]

In Christian and Medieval Latin it was the trumpet of the Last Judgement.[7] English tuba came in 1852, through French, for a large, low brass instrument.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][3]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius' trumpet sounds taratantara.[4][3]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar has Vercingetorix give the signal by trumpet.[4][3]
  • 1852 – English tuba is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A straight trumpet, especially a war trumpet.[4][5]
  2. (figurative) An instigator; lofty epic poetry.[5]
  3. A pipe in a hydraulic machine.[4]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The trumpet of the Last Judgement.[7]

Word family

  • tūbārius
  • tubicen
  • Tubilustrium,
  • tubocantius
  • tubula
  • tubus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com