Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

horn

/hɔːn/ noun

In Latin: cornū Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about horn at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A noisemaker (as at parties or games) that makes a loud noise when you blow through it.
One of the bony outgrowths on the heads of certain ungulates.
A noise made by the driver of an automobile to give warning.

verb

Stab or pierce with a horn or tusk.
the rhino horned the explorer

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word