tub

Forms

tub n (plural tuburi)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French tube and also from Latin tubus (“pipe, tube”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} MDA2 adds Italian tubo and German Tube as further models.^[6] The DLR gives Latin.^[7]

The Latin noun is close to tuba (“trumpet”), with no certain further cognates.^[8][9] French took it from Latin in 1460.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and the DLR cite as the first record Amfilohie Hotiniul's Gramatica fizicii, a translation from Italian in a manuscript of the late 18th century;^[11] MDA2's “1627” is the manuscript's shelf number in the Academy Library.^[6][7] Costinescu's dictionary of 1870 has it as a pipe or hollow cylinder, with tubŭ acustic “speaking tube”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The sense of a pipe of metal, glass or rubber came first.^[7][11] Anatomy took it for the channels of the body (tubul digestiv “the digestive tract”).^[12] Physics and engineering named instruments after it, and Scriban lists the tubes of Crookes and Geissler.^[5] The small squeezable container for pastes is a later sense.^[2][3] In Moldova the word also names the stone ring of a well.^[13]

Timeline

• late 18th century – in Amfilohie Hotiniul's Gramatica fizicii.^[6][7]
• 1870 – in Costinescu's dictionary, with tubŭ acustic and tubŭ electric.^[11]
• 1886 – glossed with German Röhre in Barcianu.^[14]
• 1929 – tubul digestiv in Șăineanu's dictionary.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hollow cylinder of metal, glass, rubber and the like, used for carrying or holding liquids or gases; a pipe;^[2] tub electronic an electron tube.^[2][6]
2. The pipe of some musical instruments, which sounds when air passes through it; the cartridge case of a firearm.^[2]
3. A small container of thin metal or plastic for pastes, cosmetics or medicines: un tub de pastă de dinți “a tube of toothpaste”.^[2][3]
4. A natural channel in an animal or plant through which food, air and the like pass;^[2][4] tub fonator the vocal tract.^[2][4]

Related words

• Latin tubus
• French tube

Usage notes

The plural is tuburi; the DLR records an old masculine plural tubi and a regional form tup.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1152
3. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional
4. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
5. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1353
6. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1293
7. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. tub
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c d Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 647
12. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 670
13. ^ Stati, Vasile (2003), Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc, Chișinău
14. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 661