Middle English Dictionary Entry

horn n.
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Entry Info

Forms horn n. Also horne, orn & (errors) heorn, hern. Pl. hornes & (early) hornen.
Etymology OE

Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)

1a.
(a) One of the horns on the head of certain quadrupeds; a horn of cattle, sheep, goats, etc.; an antler of a deer; also fig. [quot.: c1390]; (b) the representation of a horn or antler in heraldry; (c) the horn or antler of an animal as a material used in medicine, manufacturing, etc.; hertes-horn, q.v.
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1b.
(a) Horned cattle; (b) ~ under ~, ?for all manner of horned cattle equally; ~ with ~, ?with commoning of horned cattle.
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1c.
(a) The horn of a unicorn; a horn of various fabled creatures; (b) the horn of a cuckold; haven an ~, to be a cuckold.
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1d.
A horn as a symbol of power; ~ of david, power of David; also, Christ; ~ of hele (helthe), instrument of salvation; also, Christ.
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2.
(a) A hornlike part or tentacle on the head of a snail, slug, or whelk; (b) fig. drauen in hornes, shrinken (in) hornes, to pull in (one's) horns, abate (one's) ardor, shrink into oneself; (c) one of the parts of a siege engine which can be extended or retracted.
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3.
(a) Hardened epidermis; (b) a horny growth on the toes or feet, a corn; (c) a nail of the finger or toe; the hoof of a horse; (d) ?the talon of a hawk.
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4.
A vessel made of a horn or shaped like a horn: (a) used for drinking liquor; bugle ~, q.v.; (b) used for cupping; (c) used as a container for various substances; inke ~, q.v.; (d) ful ~, a cornucopia.
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5.
(a) Any of variously shaped or constructed wind instruments [orig. made of the horn of an animal] blown in the hunt or in battle, as an alarm or summons, etc.; a musical horn; ~ of bugle; bugle ~, q. v.; (b) the blast of a horn; also, the sound of breaking wind [quot.: PPl.]; (c) ?a manorial office with an elected official whose duty it was to summon with the blast of a horn; (d) phrases: ben at the kinges ~, to be outlawed; blouen (in) the bukkes ~, be ineffectual or unsuccessful; also, appear idle or unconcerned [quot. Lydg.Look TM]; blouen in an ~, waste one's time, wait in vain; mi (thi, here) ~ is blouen, my (thy, their) time is come, I am doomed, etc.; putten to the kinges ~, declare (sb.) outlawed.
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6a.
(a) A pointed projection or a projecting extremity; the beak of a ship, the apex of a bishop's miter, one of the projecting corners of a Jewish altar, one of the arms of a cross; a ray of the sun, one of the ends of a rainbow, a promontory, etc.; flour ~, a petal; (b) anat. one of the two lateral cavities of the womb, into which the Fallopian tubes enter; also, an auricle of the heart; one of the two corners of the forehead in front of the temples.
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6b.
One of the two tips of the crescent moon; the mone with fulle hornes, the full moon.
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6c.
One of the two wings of an army.
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6d.
(a) Pl. An arrangement of a woman's hair in projecting rolls at each side of the head; (b) ?a headdress to cover such an arrangement; (c) one of the peaks of a bishop's miter.
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7.
Cpds. & combs.: (a) ~ berer, an animal with horns; ~ blouere, one who blows a horn; also, as surname; ~ dai, some kind of manorial workday; ~ gleu, glue made from horns; (b) ~ kek(e, some kind of fish; prob. the European gar Belone vulgaris [with the second element unidentified; see note]; ?also, a lobster [quot.: a1425]; ?also, the red gurnard Trigla cuculus [quot.: ?a1500]; (c) ~ peni = horn(e-yeld, q.v.; ~ putter, an animal that butts with his horns; ~ spon, a spoon made of horn; ~ wistel, the poisonous plant, hemlock Conium maculatum.
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8.
(a) In surnames; (b) in place names [see Smith PNElem. 1.261-2].
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Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • a1500(?1451) Poem Waynflete (Add 60577)99 : Wolde the faders of þe Chyrche oones sharp here hornes To restore thys flour to the astaat agayne, The erthe shulde be fecundius þat now ys full barreyn, And burgeon lilies and roosez to þe sowles sustenance.
    • Note: Fig. sense; postdates sense 1a.(a).
    Note: In sense 1a.(a), after "also fig.," revise "[quot.: c1390]" to "[quots.: c1390; a1500(?1451)]".--notes per MLL
  • ?a1450 Macer (Stockh Med.10.91)199 : Git hauyþ foure corneres [vr. cornys] or pykes or hornes growyng vp even to hevenward.
    • Note: New sense
    Note: Probably belongs to sense 6a.(a).
    Note: Gloss: A pointed projection from the seed-pod of a plant.--notes per MLL

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: To the compound horn-kek(e (sense 7.(b)), cp. horn-bek n. Though the latter is later and rarer, OED speculates that the former may have arisen as a transcription error for the latter, the -kek(e element otherwise being difficult to account for.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. horn.

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