ophicleide means A keyed brass baritone bugle, now replaced by the tuba in orchestral music. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.
ophicleide is pronounced /ˈɒfɪklaɪd/.
Why “ophicleide” is a great word
OPHICLEIDE — [Noun] A keyed brass wind instrument of the baritone range, now largely superseded by the tuba. From French ophicléide, from Greek ophis ("serpent") + kleis ("key"). Unlike the serpent—an earlier, keyless instrument of wood and leather with a breathy, rustic timbre—or the modern tuba—with its valved certainty and robust blast—the ophicleide is a magnificent hybrid, a serpent given keys, brass given articulation. Its voice is a complex, reedy growl: the foundational rumble in a Berlioz score, the solemn punctuation in a Victorian bandstand, the ghost of a bass line lingering in an empty hall. It is the audible ghost of a technological crossroads, a beautiful solution that was, itself, solved.
noun
- A keyed brass baritone bugle, now replaced by the tuba in orchestral music