cornutus

Latin

Etymology

From cornū (“horn”) +‎ -tus (adjective-forming suffix). The connexion between "having horns" and "cuckolded" is found across many languages, cf. English horned, German Hörner aufsetzen, Turkish boynuzlamak and in all Romance languages. The origin of this connexion is disputed.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /korˈnuː.tus/, [kɔrˈnuːt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /korˈnu.tus/, [korˈnuːt̪us]

Adjective

cornūtus (feminine cornūta, neuter cornūtum); first/second-declension adjective

1. horned, having horns.
2. (Medieval Latin, New Latin) cuckolded
   • 1738, Georg Adam Struve, Syntagma jurisprudentiae 3.844:

     idem est, sī quis marītum cornūtum dīcat [...], quoniam per cōnsequentiam saltem tangit injūria marītum, prīncipāliter vērō uxōrem, utpote per quam marītus cornūtus dēmum fit.[1]

   • 1735, Christoph Heinrich Freiesleben, Compendium juris Schutzio-Lauterbachianum 2.1172:

     ubi cāsus, quō ipsī uxōrī immediātē injūria facta, utrīque tamen conjugī est commūnis: ut, sī marītus cornūtus vel corōnātus adpellētur, quia hoc convīcium necessāriō injūriam uxōris involvit, et huic injūriārum āctiō competit.[2]

   • 1693, Johann Schütze, Opus homagio-nuptiale 190:

     Drūsius, ei quī uxōrem habet adulteram, affingī solēre duo cornua ex Hebraicīs Apologīs ostendit. vocātur autem vir cornūtus [...]. cornua enim potestātem significant, tālis autem māritus simulācrum potius potestātis est marītālis, quam quod rēvērā potestātem habeat. aliam prōfert Philander von Sittwald in Vīsiōnibus, ideō marītō cornua competere, quia caput est, dum inquit:
     Sī quandō sacra jūra torī violāverit uxor,
     cūr gerit immeritus cornua vir? caput est.[3]

   • 1668, Agostinho Barbosa, Repertorium juris civilis et canonici 182:

     et uxor agit contrā illum, quī vocāvit cornūtum marītum suum [...] et injūria īnfertur sī quis dīcat: 'tū es bonus homō', quia intellegitur quod vocat eum cornūtum.[4]

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	cornūtus	cornūta	cornūtum		cornūtī	cornūtae	cornūta
Genitive	cornūtī	cornūtae	cornūtī		cornūtōrum	cornūtārum	cornūtōrum
Dative	cornūtō		cornūtō		cornūtīs
Accusative	cornūtum	cornūtam	cornūtum		cornūtōs	cornūtās	cornūta
Ablative	cornūtō	cornūtā	cornūtō		cornūtīs
Vocative	cornūte	cornūta	cornūtum		cornūtī	cornūtae	cornūta

Synonyms

• (horned): cornifer, corniger

Related terms

• corneolus
• cornescō
• corneus
• cornicen
• corniculāns
• corniculātus
• corniculum
• cornifer
• corniger
• cornipēs
• cornū
• cornuālis
• cornuārius
• cornuātus
• cornūcōpia
• cornulum
• cornupeta
• unicornis

Descendants

• Albanian: kërrutë
• Asturian: cornudu
• Aromanian: curnut
• Catalan: cornut
• Dalmatian: carnoit
• → English: cornute
• French: cornu
• Italian: cornuto
  • → English: cornuto
• Occitan: cornut
• Portuguese: cornudo
• Romanian: cornut
• Sicilian: curnutu
• Spanish: cornudo
• Venetian: cornùo

References

• “cornutus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• servus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• cornutus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “cornutus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cornutus in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[5], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “cornutus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray