# tuba

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈtjuː.bə/ · frequency rank #35,561

## Definitions
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.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **tug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tug)
- **Tue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tue)
- **tum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tum)
- **tun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tun)
- **tut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tut)
- **tux** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tux)
- **TWA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-twa)
- **tui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tui)
- **tur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tur)
- **TUC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tuc)
- **turn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-turn)
- **tube** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tube)
- **tune** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tune)
- **turf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-turf)
- **tuna** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tuna)
- **tuck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tuck)
- **Turk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-turk)
- **turd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-turd)
- **tung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tung)
- **tutu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tuba-vs-tutu)

## Common misspellings (5)
`tbua`, `ttuba`, `tuab`, `tubba`, `utba`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/tuba