tube English · revision 5717

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1590s|origins=la tubus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /tʃuːb/, /tjuːb/, US /tuːb/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|tube]] (15th century) or directly [[bor|la|tubus|t=tube, pipe]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) of unknown origin,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) related to Latin tuba “trumpet”.^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A hollow organ or passage in the body, in anatomy and zoology: the 1590s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) As a pipe or hollow cylinder it is from 1611 in Barnhart, in Cotgrave's dictionary,^(Barnhart 1988) while MWU gives 1651 and the OED 1658.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Glass tubes in chemistry are from 1800,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and the soft squeezable tube for paste or paint from 1841.^(OED 1989) A sealed tube is by 1859 in ''vacuum tube'', later extended in electronics to a sealed tube with electrodes;^(Etymonline) from the cathode-ray or picture tube, ''the tube'' came to mean television, by 1959.^(Etymonline) A cylindrical railway tunnel is from 1847, and London's Central London Railway was called the Twopenny Tube by 1900;^(Etymonline) to travel by tube is from 1902.^(OED 1989) The verb, to fit with a tube, is from 1828,^(OED 1989) and to send by pneumatic tube by 1891.^(Etymonline) ''Down the tubes'', lost or ruined, is attested by 1963.^(Etymonline) ''Tubular'' is from 1673.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1590s – a passage in the body.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1611 – a pipe.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1800 – a chemist's glass tube.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1841 – a squeezable tube.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1847 – a railway tunnel.^(Etymonline)

+ * by 1900 – the Twopenny Tube.^(Etymonline)

+ * by 1959 – television.^(Etymonline)

+ * by 1963 – ''down the tubes''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A long hollow [[cylinder]] for carrying liquids or gases, or for holding things.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A soft container with a cap, for paste or paint: ''a tube of toothpaste''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(anatomy)'' A tube-shaped [[organ]] or passage in the body.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(British, often the Tube)'' The London [[underground]] railway.^(COED 2004)^(Chambers 2008)

+ # ''(informal, chiefly US)'' [[television|alt=Television]].^(Etymonline)

+ # An [[electron]] tube or vacuum tube.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fit with a tube, or put in a tube.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tubed]]

+ * [[tubelike]]

+ * [[tubeless]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tuba]]

+ * [[tubular]]

+ * [[tubing]]

+ * [[tubule]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}