horn

B1 Topic:Animals

US /hɔɹn/ UK /hɔːn/ See IPA manual

Freq #2017

Meanings

1

noun
A hard pointed growth on the head of some animals, such as cows or goats.

The bull lowered its head and showed its horns.
2

noun
A device on a vehicle that makes a loud warning sound.

The driver pressed the horn when the cyclist swerved.
3

noun
A brass musical instrument that you blow into.

He played the horn in the school orchestra.
4

noun
The hard substance that animal horns are made of, used to make objects.

The umbrella had a handle made of horn.
5

verb
To stab or pierce with a horn.

The angry rhino horned the explorer.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

4 noun · the hard substance that... keratin

5 verb · to stab or pierce with a horn. tusk

Word family

Forms hornedhorninghornlikehorns

Derived forms airhornbehornbighornblow-hornblowhornbuck's-hornbuckhornbull-hornbullhornbutterhorndeerhorndehorn

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

baritone horn
a brass wind instrument with a low musical range

Noun + noun

Idioms (1)

See all

take the bull by the horns
To deal with a difficult situation directly and bravely.

Simplified etymology

Horn is an Old English word belonging to the same historical word family as Latin cornu “horn,” from which cornea and the skin-related sense of corn also descend.

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

*ḱerh₂- Proto-Indo-European horn, horne Middle English horn Old English *horn Proto-West Germanic *hurną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Animals

External links

# horn

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /hɔɹn/
**IPA (UK):** /hɔːn/
**Frequency rank:** 2017

## Meanings
1. A hard pointed growth on the head of some animals, such as cows or goats.
2. A device on a vehicle that makes a loud warning sound.
3. A brass musical instrument that you blow into.
4. The hard substance that animal horns are made of, used to make objects.
5. To stab or pierce with a horn.

## Examples
- The bull lowered its head and showed its horns.
- The driver pressed the horn when the cyclist swerved.
- He played the horn in the school orchestra.
- The umbrella had a handle made of horn.
- The angry rhino horned the explorer.

## Derived Forms
- airhorn
- behorn
- bighorn
- blow-horn
- blowhorn
- buck's-horn
- buckhorn
- bull-horn
- bullhorn
- butterhorn
- deerhorn
- dehorn

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ḱerh₂-
- Root: horn, horne
- Root: horn
- Root: *horn
- Root: *hurną

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

## AI Etymology
Horn comes 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. In current use, the main senses are “A hard pointed growth on the head of some animals, such as cows or goats” and “A device on a vehicle that makes a loud warning sound”.

## Topics
- Animals

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