horny English · revision 39671

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1398, J. Trevisa, translation of Bartholomew's De Proprietatibus Rerum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈhɔːni/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈhoɹni/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|en|horn|-y]], formed in Middle English.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016) The slang sense "sexually aroused" comes from ''horn'' in the slang sense of an erect penis;^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)^(GDoS) Etymonline traces it to a late 18th-century slang expression about having “the horn”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Made of horn, or of a texture like horn: 1398, in John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew's ''De Proprietatibus Rerum''.^(OED 2026) Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the original sense came "hardened like horn, callous", recorded from 1693,^(OED 2026) as in hands hardened by work,^(MWU 2024) and "having horns", from 1530.^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) gave only "made of horn" and "resembling horn", quoting Milton on the ravens' "horny beaks".^(Johnson 1755) The sexual sense is recorded in slang from 1826 in an American diary,^(GDoS) and the OED has it from 1889, in Barrère and Leland's ''Dictionary of Slang'', noting that it was used chiefly of men;^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) it was later applied to women as well.^(Etymonline) As a noun, ''horny'' or ''hornie'' has meant a policeman (from 1753), a cow or bullock in Scottish and Australian slang (from 1808), and, as ''Auld Hornie'' in Scots, the devil (from 1786, in Burns).^(OED 2026)^(GDoS) In the dialects of Scotland and northern England it formed many compounds, such as ''horny-golach'', the earwig.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1398 – made of horn.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1530 – having horns.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1693 – hardened, callous.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1753 – noun, a policeman (slang).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1786 – ''Auld Hornie'', the devil (Scottish).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1808 – noun, a cow or bullock (Scottish and Australian slang).^(OED 2026)^(GDoS)

+ * 1826 – sexually aroused (slang).^(GDoS)

+ * 1869 – of sounds, like a horn.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1889 – the same sense in the OED's first example.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # (informal) Sexually [[arousal|alt=aroused]] or eager; [[lustful]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Made of [[horn]] or of a hard, horn-like substance.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Hard and rough, as skin is from work; [[callous]]: ''the horny palms of a stonemason''.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # Having horns or horn-like projections.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[horniness]]

+ * [[hornily]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}