horn | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

102 entries found.

"long, powerful horn," formerly used to convey messages across valleys, 1864, from German, literally "horn of the Alps;" see Alp + horn (n.).

shoehorn (n.)

1580s, from shoe (n.) + horn (n.); earlier shoeing-horn (mid-15c.).

hornbill (n.)

1773, from horn (n.) + bill (n.2). So called from the horny casques atop the bills. Another old name for it was horned pie.

dehorn (v.)

"remove the horns of," 1888, from de- + horn (n.). Related: Dehorned; dehorning.

longhorn (adj.)

also long-horn, in reference to a type of cattle, 1808, from long (adj.) + horn (n.).

buckhorn (n.)

also buck-horn, "substance of the horns of a deer," used in making knife-handles, etc., 1610s, from buck (n.1) + horn (n.).

hornbeam (n.)

type of small tree, 1570s, from horn (n.) + beam (n.) "tree," preserving the original sense of the latter word. The tree so called in reference to its hard wood, which somewhat resembles horn.

horny (adj.)

late 14c., "made of horn," from horn (n.) + -y (2). From 1690s as "callous, resembling horn." The colloquial meaning "lustful, sexually aroused," was in use certainly by 1889, perhaps as early as 1863; it probably derives from the late 18c. slang expression to have the horn, suggestive of male sexual excitement (but eventually applied to women as well); see horn (n.). As a noun it once also was a popular name for a domestic cow. For an adjective in the original sense of the word, hornish (1630s) and horn-like (1570s) are available.

tinhorn (adj.)

"petty but flashy," 1857, from tin + horn (n.); originally of low-class gamblers, from the tin cans they used for shaking dice.

hartshorn (n.)

"ammonium carbonate," Old English heortes hornes, from hart + horn (n.). So called because a main early source of ammonia was the antlers of harts.

Page 2

Trending words