Wiktionary

horn

See also: Horn, hörn, Hörn, and hòrn

English

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Etymology

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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 [script needed] (surna, “horn”), Persian سر (sar), Sanskrit शृङ्ग (śṛṅga, “horn”). Doublet of corn (“callus”), corno, and cornu.

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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horn (countable and uncountable, plural horns)

 
A man playing a horn.
 
This sheep has horns.
  2. (countable, zootomy) 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
    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.
  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

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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

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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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.
  4. (intransitive, Singapore, India) To sound the horn of a motor vehicle; to honk.
    • (Can we date this quote by Rabia Sajal Niazi and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?), His Precious Gem
      He horned five times but the man didn't moved [sic] his car away.

Derived terms

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Anagrams

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Cornish

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Chemical element
Fe
Previous: manganes (Mn)
Next: kobalt (Co)

Etymology 1

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From Proto-Brythonic *hiyarno-, from Proto-Celtic *īsarnom (compare Welsh haern, Breton houarn, Irish iarann), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood, red”).

Noun

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horn m

  1. iron
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Clipping of horn margh

Noun

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horn m (plural hern)

  1. horse shoe

Danish

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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horn n (singular definite hornet, plural indefinite horn)

  1. horn

Inflection

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Declension of horn
neuter
gender 		singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative horn hornet horn hornene
genitive horns hornets horns hornenes

References

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Faroese

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

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n3 singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative horn hornið horn hornini
accusative horn hornið horn hornini
dative horni horninum hornum hornunum
genitive horns hornsins horna hornanna

Icelandic

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

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Declension of horn (neuter)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative horn hornið horn hornin
accusative horn hornið horn hornin
dative horni horninu hornum hornunum
genitive horns hornsins horna hornanna

Derived terms

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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.
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Descendants

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

References

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /huːrn/, [ˈhuːɳ]

Noun

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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

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References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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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

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References

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Old English

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *horn, from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“horn, head, top”).

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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horn m

  1. horn
    • Laws of King Ine
      Oxan horn bið X pæninga weorð.
      The worth of an ox's horn is ten pennies.
  2. antler
  3. (horn-shaped) gable

Declension

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Strong a-stem:

singular plural
nominative horn hornas
accusative horn hornas
genitive hornes horna
dative horne hornum

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Old High German

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *horn, from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-.

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

Noun

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horn n

  1. horn

Descendants

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  • Middle High German: horn
    • Central Franconian:
      Hunsrik: Horn
      Luxembourgish: Har
    • Cimbrian: hòrn
    • German: Horn
    • Rhine Franconian:
      Frankfurterisch: [hɔɐ̯n]
    • Yiddish: האָרן (horn)

Old Norse

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Etymology

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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

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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

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Declension of horn (strong a-stem)
neuter singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative horn hornit horn hornin
accusative horn hornit horn hornin
dative horni horninu hornum hornunum
genitive horns hornsins horna hornanna

Descendants

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Further reading

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  • Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “horn”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Old Saxon

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *horn, from Proto-Germanic *hurną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-.

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

Noun

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horn n

  1. horn

Declension

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horn (neuter a-stem)
singular plural
nominative horn horn
accusative horn horn
genitive hornes hornō
dative horne hornun
instrumental — —

Descendants

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Old Swedish

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Etymology

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

Noun

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horn n

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

Declension

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Declension of horn (strong a-stem)
neuter singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative horn hornit horn hornin
accusative horn hornit horn hornin
dative horni, horne horninu, horneno hornum, hornom hornumin, hornomen
genitive horns hornsins horna hornanna

Descendants

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Romanian

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Etymology

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

Noun

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horn n (plural hornuri)

  1. chimney
    Synonyms: cămin, coș, fumar, hogeag

Swedish

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

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Declension of horn
nominative genitive
singular indefinite horn horns
definite hornet hornets
plural indefinite horn horns
definite hornen hornens
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