Etymologically
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cornu

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɔr.nuː], [ˈkɔr.nʊ][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔr.nu][1]

Forms

cornū̆ n (genitive cornūs or cornū); fourth declension[1] By-forms cornum (Terence, Lucretius) and cornus (Varro) also occur.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kornu- (“horn”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥n-o- (“horn”).[2][1] The length of its final vowel is uncertain; if it is long, it may continue an old dual, “pair of horns”.[2]

Cognate with Welsh carn (“hoof”), Sanskrit शृङ्ग (śṛ́ṅga, “horn”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽 (haurn, “horn”) and English horn.[2][3][1] Within Latin it is related to cervus “deer” and cerebrum “brain”.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards,[2] who writes of oxen attacking with their horns.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant an animal's horn and horn as a material, and cornu Indicum was ivory.[3] Hollowed horns served as vessels, and the cornu Copiae was the magic horn of plenty.[3][4] Things made of horn or shaped like it took the name: a bow, a horn to blow, an elephant's tusk, a bird's beak, a headland, the ends of a harbour mole and the wings of an army.[3][1] Figuratively it stood for strength and power.[1]

In Medieval Latin it was also a corner of an altar and an arm of a church transept,[5] and in music a wind instrument and the quill of a harpsichord.[6] It survives as Romanian corn, Italian corno, Spanish cuerno and Portuguese corno.[1] English unicorn comes from unicornis “one-horned”.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for oxen's horns.[3][7]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato tells farmers to smear the base of oxen's horns with pitch.[3][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar writes of moles built from both “horns” of a harbour.[3][7]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for elephants' tusks.[3][7]
  • early 13th century – English unicorn is first recorded.[4]
  • 1590s – English takes cornucopia from Late Latin.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A horn (of an animal); an antler.[3][8]
  2. Horn (the substance), cornu Indicum ivory.[3]
  3. A horn used as a vessel, cornu Copiae the horn of plenty.[3]
  4. (poetic) A bow.[3][1]
  5. (music) A horn, trumpet.[1][6]
  6. A tusk; a beak.[3][1]
  7. A headland, spit of land.[3]
  8. An end, tip, extremity.[3]
  9. (military) A wing (of an army or fleet).[3][1]
  10. (figurative) Strength, power.[1]
  11. (Medieval Latin) A corner of an altar; an arm of a transept.[5]

Word family

  • corneolus
  • cornēscō
  • corneus
  • cornicen
  • cornīcula
  • corniculāns
  • corniculārius
  • corniculātus
  • corniculum
  • cornifer
  • cornifrōns
  • corniger

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press