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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word corn

corn1 horn

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1436 place name Cornul Ujogov
Inherited from
Latin cornu
Ultimate origin
Latin cornū
Etymology tree of corn1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cornū
Italian corno
Romanian corn
From the same root · corn1
English unicorn ← cornū
Latin bicornis ← cornū
Latin Capricornus ← cornū
Latin cornicen ← cornū
Latin corniger ← cornū
Latin cornipes ← cornū
Latin cornūcōpia ← cornū
Latin ūnicornis ← cornū

Pronunciation

Forms

corn n (plural coarne)[1]

Etymology

The word for the horn is inherited from Latin cornū (“horn”),[2][3][4][5][1][6][7] from *ḱrn-o-, and cognate with the English word horn.[8][1] It survives in all four branches: Aromanian cornu, Megleno-Romanian corn and Istro-Romanian cornu.[2][9][10][11] Its Romance cognates include Italian corno, French cor, Catalan corn, Spanish cuerno and Portuguese corno.[2][7]

DELR gives two senses a foreign model: “rafter” may be a calque of Hungarian szarufa, following the DA, and the crescent-shaped roll follows German Hörnchen, the diminutive of Horn.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a place name of 1436, Cornul Ujogov “Ujog's Horn”.[3][12] In Romanian texts the plural coarne appears in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (early 16th century), and MDA2 cites the Psaltirea Scheiană (c. 1573–1578).[13][4]

Semantic evolution

Besides the horn of cattle, the word named early on things made of horn or shaped like it: a hunting horn and trumpet, a powder horn, the arms of a cross, the handles of a plough and the tines of a fork.[2][12] In the Bible the horn is a sign of strength and power: va înălța cornul unsului lui “he shall exalt the horn of his anointed”.[12][14] The Latin sense “corner, angle” lives on in Transylvania and Maramureș, as in în patru cornuri de lume “in the four corners of the world”.[6][15] A pune coarne “to put horns on” means to cuckold.[5][12] Modern senses include the French horn, the crescent-shaped roll and the horns of the moon.[5]

Timeline

  • 1436 – the place name Cornul Ujogov, the first record.[3][12]
  • c. 1500–1520 – coarne in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.[13]
  • c. 1573–1578 – the Psaltirea Scheiană.[4]
  • 1673 – coarneș “with big horns” in Dosoftei's Psalter.[3]
  • 1688 – cornul unsului lui in the Bucharest Bible, 1 Samuel 2.[12]
  • 1705 – capricorn in Cantemir.[3]
  • 1871 – bicorn “two-cornered hat” in Laurian and Massim's dictionary.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A horn, one of the hard growths on the skull of many hoofed animals; the feelers of a snail.[5][1]
  2. (singular) Horn, the substance of horns.[5]
  3. A hunting horn; a brass wind instrument, the French horn;[5] corn englez the cor anglais.[5]
  4. A vessel made of horn or shaped like one, for powder or salt;[5] cornul abundenței the horn of plenty.[5]
  5. A small crescent-shaped bread roll.[5]
  6. A part of a building, machine or tool shaped like a horn, such as the handles of a plough.[5][2]
  7. Cornul Lunii the crescent moon.[5]
  8. (regional) A corner, angle or edge.[2][15]

Word family

  • cornut
  • cornos
  • încornorat
  • coarneș
  • cornuleț
  • corniță
  • cornar
  • cornărit

corn2 cornel tree

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1428 place name Cornii
Inherited from
Latin cornus
Ultimate origin
Latin cornus

Pronunciation

Forms

corn m (plural corni)[1]

Etymology

The word for the cornel tree is inherited from Latin cornus (“cornel cherry tree”),[2][3][4][5][1][6][16] which is not the same word as the Latin for “horn”.[8][6] It survives in Aromanian cornu, Megleno-Romanian corn and Istro-Romanian cornu.[2][9][10][11] In Romance only Catalan keeps the simple word, Catalan corn;[2][16][6] Spanish has derivatives such as Spanish cornizo.[2][16][6]

The Latin word is akin to Ancient Greek κράνον (kránon, “cornel”); de Vaan traces it to a Proto-Italic stem meaning “cornel cherry, cherry”, and Wiktionary suggests that the Latin and Greek words were both borrowed from a Mediterranean substrate.[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the place name Cornii of 1428.[3][12] The Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary (c. 1650–1700) renders korn with Latin cornus, and a plant glossary of 1705 gives dreanca as the Bulgarian name of the tree.[17][4]

Semantic evolution

The word names the shrub or small tree Cornus mas, with very hard wood, yellow flowers and red edible fruit, which are called coarne.[5][17] Its hard wood made staves and ox goads, and Aromanian shepherds make their crooks from it.[17][9]

Timeline

  • 1422 – the derivative cornet “cornel wood” in the place name Korneth.[3]
  • 1428 – the place name Cornii, the first record of the word.[3][12]
  • 1582 – the collective corniș in a place name.[3]
  • c. 1650–1700 – korn and the fruit coarnă in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.[17][3]
  • 1705 – cornul in a plant glossary.[4][17]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The cornel (Cornus mas), a shrub or small tree with very hard wood, yellow flowers and edible red fruit, whose leaves were used for dyeing.[5][4][1]
  2. The wood of the cornel.[4]

Word family

  • coarnă
  • corniș

Usage notes

The plural depends on the sense: coarne for the horns of animals and the handles of a plough, cornuri for rolls, vessels and corners, and corni for the cornel trees and the musical instrument.[2][5] DELR and MDA2 record a third, regional corn “rye brandy” in Bukovina, from German Korn.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. corn
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. corn
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 513
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 238
  6. ^ a b c d e f Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 35
  7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2240
  8. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b c Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 307
  10. ^ a b Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 77
  11. ^ a b Byhan, Arthur (1899), Istrorumänisches Glossar, Sechster Jahresbericht des Instituts für rumänische Sprache zu Leipzig: 174–366, p. 247
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. corn
  13. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 68:36
  14. ^ Costinescu, Mariana; Georgescu, Magdalena; Zgraon, Florentina (1987), Dicționarul limbii române literare vechi (1640–1780): termeni regionali, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 1, 113
  15. ^ a b Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. corn
  16. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2241
  17. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. corn

Related etymologies

  • apă · also from Latin
  • bun · also from Latin
  • unde · also from Latin
  • veni · also from Latin
  • noi · also from Latin
  • bine · also from Latin
  • un · also from Latin
  • și · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Corn.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/corn. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

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