cornu

Forms

cornu (feminine cornue, masculine plural cornus, feminine plural cornues)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cornūtus (“horned”), the adjective of cornū (“horn”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} In Late Latin the word also meant “specious”.^[6]

Cognate with Italian cornuto, Romanian cornut, Old Occitan cornut, Catalan cornut, Spanish cornudo and Portuguese cornudo.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Roman de Thèbes (about 1150) it describes stones with jutting corners or two points, chaillos cornus; the sense “having horns” follows at the end of the 12th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Like corne, the adjective was used of animals and of mythological beings such as devils and satyrs.^[3][8] From 1608 it was applied to a deceived husband.^[2][3] Between the 13th and the 16th century it could also mean “foolish”.^[4]

In classical French it also meant “odd, extravagant”, by analogy with argument cornu “specious argument” (Cotgrave, 1611),^[3][6] and lune cornue was the crescent moon.^[3] The compound biscornu later took over the sense “bizarre” and pushed cornu out of it.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – First recorded in the Roman de Thèbes, of stones with jutting points.^[2]
• Late 12th century – Alexandre de Paris uses it for “horned”.^[2]
• 1405 – The noun cornue appears, according to Bloch and Wartburg;^[4][3] Rey dates it 1575.^[4][3]
• 1571 – Bicornu is recorded.^[3]
• 1608 – First use for a cuckolded husband.^[2][4]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records argument cornu.^[6]
• 1694 – Biscornu is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having horns, horned: un bélier cornu.^[9][2][1]
2. Having projections or corners shaped like horns;^[9][8] blé cornu, ergoted wheat.^[9][8]
3. (obsolete) Odd, extravagant: raisons cornues.^[9][8]
4. (familiar, dated) Cuckolded.^[2][3]

Word family

• cornue
• biscornu

Related words

• corne
• cornard
• bicorne
• Latin cornūtus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1206b
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert