horn

English

Etymology

From Middle English horn, horne, from Old English horn, from Proto-West Germanic *horn, from Proto-Germanic *hurną. Compare West Frisian hoarn, Dutch hoorn, Low German Hoorn, horn, German Horn, Danish and Swedish horn, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽 (haurn).

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂-nó-m, from *ḱerh₂- (“head, horn”). Compare Breton kern (“horn”), Latin cornū, Ancient Greek κέρας (kéras), Proto-Slavic *sьrna, Old Church Slavonic сьрна (sĭrna, “roedeer”), Hittite (surna, “horn”), Persian سر (sar), Sanskrit शृङ्ग (śṛṅga, “horn”).

(telephone): From the horn-shaped earpieces of old communication systems that used air tubes.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: hôn, IPA^(key): /hɔːn/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) enPR: hôrn, IPA^(key): /hɔɹn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

• (Dublin English, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /ˈhɒːɹn/
• (Dublin English) IPA^(key): /ˈhoːrn/, /ˈhoːɻn/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)n

Noun

horn (countable and uncountable, plural horns)

2. (countable) A hard growth of keratin that protrudes from the top of the head of certain animals, usually paired.
3. Any similar real or imaginary growth or projection such as the elongated tusk of a narwhal, the eyestalk of a snail, the pointed growth on the nose of a rhinoceros, or the hornlike projection on the head of a demon or similar.
5. An antler.
7. (uncountable) The hard substance from which animals' horns are made, sometimes used by man as a material for making various objects.

   Synonym: keratin

   an umbrella with a handle made of horn

8. A vessel made from a horn, to contain drink, ink, gunpowder, etc.
   • 1775, William Mason, The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W. Mason.:

     horns of mead and ale

   • 2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 143:

     I guarantee you a mighty feast, horns of ale, and afterwards wrestling and racing and contests of strength.

9. An object whose shape resembles a horn, such as cornucopia or the point of an anvil.
   1. One of the two corners of a crescent, particularly of the crescent moon
      • 1726, James Thomson, “Winter”, in The Seasons, London: A Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, , published 1768, →OCLC, page 169, lines 123–125:

        [W]hile riſing ſlow, / Blank, in the leaden-colour'd eaſt, the moon / Wears a wan circle round her blunted horns.

   2. The high pommel of a saddle; also, either of the projections on a lady's saddle for supporting the leg.
   4. (architecture) The Ionic volute.
   5. (nautical) The outer end of a crosstree; also, one of the projections forming the jaws of a gaff, boom, etc.
   6. (carpentry) A curved projection on the fore part of a plane.
   7. One of the projections at the four corners of the Jewish altar of burnt offering.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, 1 Kings 2:28:

        Joab […] caught hold on the horns of the altar

10. (countable) Any of several musical wind instruments.
12. (countable, music) An instrument resembling a musical horn and used to signal others.

    hunting horn

13. (countable, automotive) A loud alarm, especially one on a motor vehicle.

    Synonyms: hooter, klaxon

14. (chiefly sports) A sound signaling the expiration of time.

    The shot was after the horn and therefore did not count.

15. (countable) A conical device used to direct waves.

    Synonym: funnel

    antenna horn

    loudspeaker horn

17. (informal, music, countable) Generally, any brass wind instrument.
19. (slang, countable) A telephone.

    Synonyms: blower (UK), dog and bone (Cockney rhyming slang), phone

    Get him on the horn so that we can have a discussion about this.

20. (vulgar, slang, with definite article) An erection of the penis.

    Synonyms: boner (US), hard-on, stiffy

22. (countable, geography) A peninsula or projecting tract of land.

    Synonym: peninsula

    to navigate around the horn

    • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

      But nowhere are there queerer waters than in our own parish of Caulds, at the place called the Sker Bay, where between two horns of land a shallow estuary receives the stream of the Sker.

24. (countable) A diacritical mark that may be attached to the top right corner of the letters o and u when writing in Vietnamese, thus forming ơ and ư.
25. (botany) An incurved, tapering and pointed appendage found in the flowers of the milkweed (Asclepias).
26. (military) In naval mine warfare, a projection from the mine shell of some contact mines which, when broken or bent by contact, causes the mine to fire.

Usage notes

When used alone to refer to an instrument, horn can mean either hunting horn or French horn, depending on context. Other instruments are identified by specific adjectives such as English horn or basset horn.

Translations

Verb

horn (third-person singular simple present horns, present participle horning, simple past and past participle horned)

1. (transitive, of an animal) To assault with the horns.
2. (transitive) To furnish with horns.
3. (transitive, slang, obsolete) To cuckold.

Derived terms

Anagrams

• NRHO, Rohn

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse horn, from Proto-Norse ᚺᛟᚱᚾᚨ (horna), from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hoɐ̯ˀn/

Noun

horn n (singular definite hornet, plural indefinite horn)

1. horn

Inflection

References

• “horn” in Den Danske Ordbog

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse horn, from Proto-Norse ᚺᛟᚱᚾᚨ (horna), from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɔtn/
• Rhymes: -ɔtn

Noun

horn n (genitive singular horns, plural horn)

1. horn (of an animal)
2. (music) horn
3. corner
4. speaker (on a telephone)
5. angle

Declension

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse horn, from Proto-Norse ᚺᛟᚱᚾᚨ (horna), from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɔrtn/
• Rhymes: -ɔrtn

Noun

horn n (genitive singular horns, nominative plural horn)

1. horn (of an animal)
2. fin (of a cetacean or other marine animal)
3. corner
4. angle
5. (music) horn

Declension

Derived terms

Middle English

Alternative forms

• horne, orn

Etymology

From Old English horn, from Proto-West Germanic *horn, from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂nós (with change in gender).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɔrn/, /hoːrn/

Noun

horn (plural hornes)

1. A horn (keratinous growth):
   1. Horn as a material or in crafts.
   2. (rare) The metaphorical horn of a cuckold.
   3. (rare, heraldry) A heraldic depiction of a horn.
2. A projecting extremity or point:
   1. A point of a crescent moon.
   2. A point of a woman's hairstyle.
3. A horn (musical instrument)
4. A bodily extension, such as a claw.
5. A horn-shaped container (especially as a glass)
6. (rare) A section of an army or band.
7. (rare) The eyestalk of a gastropod or an analogous projection.
8. (rare, collectively) Horned bovids.

Related terms

Descendants

• English: horn
• Scots: horn
• Yola: hoorn

References

• “horn, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-08.

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

horn

Wikipedia ^no

Etymology

From Old Norse horn, from Proto-Norse ᚺᛟᚱᚾᚨ (horna), from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /huːrn/,

Noun

horn n (definite singular hornet, indefinite plural horn, definite plural horna or hornene)

1. (zoology) horn
2. (music) horn
3. (automotive, rail transport) horn (warning device)

Derived terms

• hornhinne
• krutthorn
• ta tyren ved hornene

References

• “horn” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• haurn; hønn (hødn, hønnj); henn

Etymology

From Old Norse horn, from Proto-Norse ᚺᛟᚱᚾᚨ (horna), from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /horn/, /hoɳː/
• (segmentation) IPA^(key): /hodn/
• (palatalisation) IPA^(key): /hoɲː/

Noun

horn n (definite singular hornet, indefinite plural horn, definite plural horna)

1. (zoology) horn
2. (music) horn
3. (automotive, rail transport) horn (warning device)

Derived terms

• hornhinne
• ta tyren ved horna

References

• “horn” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *horn, from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- (“horn, head, top”).

Cognate with Old Frisian horn, Old Saxon horn, Old High German horn, Old Norse horn, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽 (haurn).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xorn/,

Noun

horn m

1. horn
2. antler
3. (horn-shaped) gable

Declension

Derived terms

• hornbǣre
• hornreċed
• hyrne

Descendants

• Middle English: horn, horne, orn
  • English: horn
  • Scots: horn
  • Yola: hoorn

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *horn, from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-.

Cognates include also Old Saxon horn, Old English horn, Old Norse horn, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽 (haurn).

Noun

horn n

1. horn

Descendants

• Middle High German: horn
  • Central Franconian:

    Hunsrik: Horn

    Luxembourgish: Har

  • Cimbrian: hòrn
  • German: Horn
  • Rhine Franconian:

    Frankfurterisch:

  • Yiddish: האָרן (horn)

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Norse ᚺᛟᚱᚾᚨ (horna), from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer- or Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-. Cognates include Old English horn (English horn, Old Frisian horn (West Frisian hoarn), Old Saxon horn (Low German Hoorn, horn), Dutch hoorn, Old High German horn (German Horn), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽 (haurn).

Noun

horn n (genitive horns, plural horn)

1. horn (of an animal)
2. horn (to drink from)
3. horn (musical instrument)
4. corner
5. angle

Declension

Descendants

• Icelandic: horn
• Faroese: horn
• Norn: honnj
• Norwegian Nynorsk: horn, (dialectal) hønn
• Norwegian Bokmål: horn
• Old Swedish: horn
  • Swedish: horn
• Danish: horn

References

• “horn”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *horn, from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-.

Cognates include also Old English horn, Old Frisian horn, Old High German horn, Old Norse horn, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽 (haurn).

Noun

horn n

1. horn

Declension

Descendants

• Low German: Hoorn, horn

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse horn, from Proto-Norse ᚺᛟᚱᚾᚨ (horna), from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-.

Noun

horn n

1. horn (of an animal)
2. horn (to drink from)
3. horn (musical instrument)
4. corner
5. angle

Declension

acc_pl=horn
acc_sg=horn
gen_sg=horn
nom_pl=horn
nom_sg=horn

Descendants

• Swedish: horn

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ukrainian горн (horn), from Proto-Slavic *gъrnъ.

Noun

horn n (plural hornuri)

1. chimney

   Synonyms: cămin, coș, fumar, hogeag

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse horn, from Proto-Norse ᚺᛟᚱᚾᚨ (horna), from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

horn n

1. horn (growth on animals' heads)
2. horn (object shaped from or like an animal's horn, used for drinking, storage or making sounds)
3. horn (object that makes a sound, e.g. on a car)
4. (music) horn

Declension

Related terms