tuba
/ˈtu.bə/noun
tuba is spelled T-U-B-A: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,320th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tuba means “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” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tuba is tubas or tubae.
How many letters and syllables are in tuba?
| Letters | 4: T-U-B-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,320th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tuba?
Tuba appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,320th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tuba?
- UK /ˈtjuː.bə/
- US /ˈtu.bə/
As a noun (“A tube or tubular organ”): /ˈtʊ.bə/.
As a noun (“A reddish palm wine made from coconut or nipa sap”): /tuˈbə/, /tuˈbaʔ/.
Tuba has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-tuba.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with tuba?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as tuba (/ubə/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: abut, tabu, buta.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of tuba
- tubas plural
- tubae plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tuba mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 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.
- 2
A large reed stop in organs.
- 3
A tube or tubular organ.
- 4
A type of Roman military trumpet, distinct from the modern tuba.
- 5
A Malayan plant whose roots are a significant source of rotenone, Derris malaccensis.
- 6
A reddish palm wine made from coconut or nipa sap.
noun
- 1
Abbreviation of bass tuba.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tuba in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a large brass musical instrument:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tuba come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).