corno

See also: Corno and cornò

English

Etymology

From Italian corno, from Latin cornu (“horn”). Doublet of corn (“callus”), cornu, and horn.

Noun

corno (plural corni)

1. (music) French horn

Related terms

• corno di bassetto

Anagrams

• Conor, Norco, croon, r'coon

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈko̞r.nu]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Northwestern) [ˈkɔr.no]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈkɔr.nu]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈkɔɾ.no]

Verb

corno

1. first-person singular present indicative of cornar

Galician

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese corno, from Latin cornu (“horn”). Cognate with Portuguese corno and Spanish cuerno.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɾno/ [ˈkɔɾ.nʊ]
• Rhymes: -ɔɾno
• Hyphenation: cor‧no

Noun

corno m (plural cornos)

1. (countable and uncountable) horn
   • 1370, R. Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana., A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 378:

     Et os hũus tãgíã cornos et os outros pipas, et os que estauã perlos muros da vila, algũus deles deostauã et dezíã moyto mal aos de fora.

     And some were playing horns and others pipes, and of the ones that were by the walls of the town, some insulted and told many mean things to the ones outside

   • 1813, Manuel Pardo de Andrade, Rogos de un escolar gallego:

     Sobre un tapiz dua mesa
     mais louro do que é o carbon
     hay procesos, e un tinteiro
     feito de corno de boy.

     Over the cloth of a table,
     blacker than coal,
     there are lawsuits and an inkwell
     made with ox horn

2. horn (wind instrument)
   • 1390, J. L. Pensado Tomé, editor, Os Miragres de Santiago. Versión gallega del Códice latino del siglo XII atribuido al papa Calisto I, Madrid: C.S.I.C., page 136:

     Et moy rregeo tãgeo o corno que pero que era de marfil que o fendeu cõ o bafo, et al quebrantouselle as veas do pescoço et os nerueos

     And very strongly he blew the horn, but since it was made of ivory he broke it with the puff, and also he broke the veins of the neck and the nerves

3. cuckoopint (Arum italicum)
4. European rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes nasicornis)

Interjection

corno

1. rats!

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “corno”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “corno”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, editor (2006–2013), “corno”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Santamarina, Ernesto X. González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “corno”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “corno”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Italian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-der.

Proto-Italic *kornū

Latin cornū

Italian corno

Inherited from Latin cornū, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“horn”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔr.no/
• Rhymes: -ɔrno
• Hyphenation: còr‧no

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

corno m (plural (in all meanings) corni m or (alternatively when referring to animals) corna f)

1. (zoology) horn, antler (of an animal)

   le corna della capra ― goat's horns

2. (music) horn

   i corni da caccia ― hunting horns

3. (geography) horn (peninsula or crescent-shaped tract of land)

   il Corno d'Africa ― horn of Africa

4. horn (material, or object made of material)
5. a horn-shaped amulet worn to ward off evil

Usage notes

• The feminine plural corna is used only in the zoological meaning of the term as an alternative form of corni.

  corni/corna di pecora (“sheep horns”)

• For other meanings use the masculine plural corni.

  corni francesi (“French horns”)

  corni inglesi (“cors anglais; English horns”)

Derived terms

• cornare
• cornetto
• cornista
• Corno d'Africa (“Horn of Africa”)
• corno da caccia (“hunting horn”)
• corno da scarpe (“shoehorn”)
• corno inglese (“cor anglais”)
• dire peste e corna (“to backbite”)
• fare le corna

Related terms

• cornea
• cornucopia
• cornuto

Descendants

• → English: corno
• → Japanese: コルナ (koruna)
• → Turkish: korna

Anagrams

• -crono, Crono, Ronco, crono, crono-, ronco

Latin

Noun

cornō

1. dative/ablative singular of cornus

Polish

Pronunciation

• (Lesser Poland):
  • (Goral):
    • (Zagórze) IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sɔr.nɔ]

Adjective

corno

1. (Zagórze) alternative form of czarno (“blackly; darkly”)

Further reading

• Józefa Kobylińska (2001), “czarno”, in Marian Kucała, editor, Słownik gwary gorczańskiej (zagórzańskiej)‎^[1] (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Akademii Pedagogicznej, →ISBN, page 23

Portuguese

cornos

Etymology 1

From Latin cornū, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- (“horn”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkoʁ.nu/ [ˈkoɦ.nu]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkoʁ.nu/ [ˈkoɦ.nu]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈkoɾ.nu/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈkoʁ.nu/
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ˈkoɻ.nu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkoɾ.nu/

Noun

corno m (plural cornos, metaphonic)

1. horn (growth on the heads of certain animals)

   Synonyms: haste, chifre

3. (vulgar) cuckold

   Synonyms: cornudo, chifrudo

4. (Portugal, in the plural, mildly vulgar) head

   Dói-me os cornos! ― My goddamn head hurts!

Usage notes

• The plural form is always metaphonic in Portugal, but usually not in Brazil for etymology 1 sense 2 (“cuckold”).

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Latin cornus (“dogwood”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkoʁ.nu/ [ˈkoɦ.nu]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkoʁ.nu/ [ˈkoɦ.nu]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈkoɾ.nu/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈkoʁ.nu/
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ˈkoɻ.nu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkoɾ.nu/

Noun

corno m (plural cornos, metaphonic)

1. cornel, dogwood

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔʁ.nu/ [ˈkɔɦ.nu]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔʁ.nu/ [ˈkɔɦ.nu]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɾ.nu/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔʁ.nu/
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɻ.nu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɾ.nu/

Verb

corno

1. first-person singular present indicative of cornar

Further reading

• “corno”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “corno”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkoɾno/ [ˈkoɾ.no]
• Rhymes: -oɾno
• Syllabification: cor‧no

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱer-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

?

Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-der.

Proto-Italic *kornū

Latin cornūlbor.

Spanish corno

Learned borrowing from Latin cornū. Doublet of cuerno.

Noun

corno m (plural cornos)

1. horn (musical instrument)

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Latin cornus.

Noun

corno m (plural cornos)

1. cornel

Related terms

• cornejo

Further reading

• “corno”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026