ophicleide

[of-i-klahyd]

noun

a musical wind instrument, a development of the old wooden serpent, consisting of a conical metal tube bent double.

Nearby words

Origin of ophicleide

1825–35; < French ophicléide < Greek óphi(s) serpent + kleid- (stem of kleís) key (akin to Latin clavis; see clavicle)

Related formsoph·i·clei·de·an, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ophicleide

Ophicleide, of′i-klīd, n. a large bass trumpet, with a deep pitch.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)|Various
In the ophicleide, the bass of the key-bugle, the bore is sufficiently wide to produce the fundamentals of a satisfactory quality.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3|Various
He made a point of taking his constitutional during the hour made hideous by the ill-starred aspirant on the ophicleide.
The Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch|Talbot Baines Reed
The wooden serpent has gone out of use in military bands within recollection, the ophicleide from orchestras only recently.
Scientific American Supplement No. 819|Various

Originally these tones were played by the Ophicleide or Serpent (now obsolete).
Music: An Art and a Language|Walter Raymond Spalding

British Dictionary definitions for ophicleide

ophicleide

noun

music an obsolete keyed wind instrument of bass pitch

Word Origin for ophicleide

C19: from French ophiclēide, from Greek ophis snake + kleis key

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012