Etymograph

English

cornetto

Cornetto comes from Italian cornetto ‘horn-shaped amulet resembling a hot pepper’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-1‘horn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱorh₂u1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kornū2‘horn’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcornū3‘horn’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentcorno3‘horn’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentcornetto3‘horn-shaped amulet resembling a hot pepper’diminutive of corno
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2004cornetto3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *kornū
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin cornu
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English cornetto
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2004, Alexandra Potter, Calling Romeo: “Frock-coated waiters flitted in and out dispensing champagne cocktails,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱerh₂-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *kornū‘horn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱorh₂uWiktionary, Proto-Italic *kornūreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kornūWiktionary, Latin cornu‘horn’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcornūWiktionary, English cornetto‘horn’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentcornoWiktionary, English cornetto‘horn’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentcornettoWiktionary, English cornetto‘horn-shaped amulet resembling a hot pepper’diminutive of corno
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2004cornettoWiktionary, English cornetto. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2004, Alexandra Potter, Calling Romeo: “Frock-coated waiters flitted in and out dispensing champagne cocktails,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- ‘horn’

cheer, hart, horn, cerebral, crater, grail, migraine, carotid, procrastinate, cerebellum, cairn, cranium, keratin, cerebrum, rother, 52 more

through Latin cornū ‘horn’

corny, 23 more

Today it means

noun A trumpet-like wind instrument used in European music of the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cornetto”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *kornū, Latin cornu. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- / cornetto

Shirt and support for this word