cornicen Latin · revision 36807

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1st century BC, Varro and Cicero|origins=la cornū, la canō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈkɔr.nɪ.kɛn]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈkɔr.ni.t͡ʃen]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cornicen''' ''m'' (genitive cornicinis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The grammarians also give the spelling ''cornūcen''.^(Georges 1913)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|cornū|-cen|t1=horn|t2=player]], formed like [[tībīcen]] and [[tubicen]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) The second element comes from [[m|la|canō|t=to sing, play]],^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014) and ancient grammarians already explained the word as “one who plays on the horn”.^(TLL)

+

+ The noun [[m|la|cornū]] goes back to [[itc-pro|*kornu-]] and [[ine-pro|*ḱrn-o-|t=horn]],^(de Vaan 2008) and the verb to [[ine-pro|*kh₂n-e-|t=to sing]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Varro and Cicero,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) meaning a player of the horn, a [[m|en|trumpeter]] or [[m|en|bugler]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it was mainly the army's horn-blower: Cicero has it in the ''De re publica'', and Livy, Sallust and Juvenal use it too.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) Georges notes that it could also mean a player of the Phrygian pipe.^(Georges 1913) Festus explains that the ''aēneātōrēs'' were called ''cornicinēs'', since they played the horn.^(TLL) As ''Cornicen'' it was also a surname in the gens Oppia.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ Medieval writers kept the sense of a horn-blower, especially one who gives signals in battle.^(MLW)^(DMLBS) Old English glosses render it ''hornbora'' and ''hornblāwere''.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the ''De re publica''.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of horn-blowers.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it in his satires.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 10th century – An Old English glossary renders it ''hornbora''.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A horn-blower, [[m|en|trumpeter]] or [[m|en|bugler]], especially in the army.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(MLW)

+ # A player of the Phrygian [[m|en|pipe]].^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The proper name ''Cornicen'' was a surname in the gens Oppia, borne by a decemvir of 451 BC.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}