Etymograph

English

cornute

Cornute comes from Latin cornūtus ‘horned, having horns’, from cornu ‘horn’, and ultimately from 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 CEcornu3‘horn’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcornūtus3‘horned, having horns’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1969cornute3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *kornū
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin cornu
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English cornute
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor: “‘Will you cooperate with me in cornuting your husband?…”.

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 CEcornuWiktionary, English cornute‘horn’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcornūtusWiktionary, English cornute‘horned, having horns’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1969cornuteWiktionary, English cornute. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor: “‘Will you cooperate with me in cornuting your husband?…”

Linked words

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

cheer, hart, horn, cerebral, grail, crater, migraine, carotid, cerebellum, cranium, cairn, keratin, procrastinate, cerebrum, rother, 49 more

through Proto-Italic *kornū ‘horn’

cornetto, 20 more

through Latin cornu ‘horn’

corny, cornea, cornet, 21 more

Today it means

verb To give 'horns' to; to make a cuckold of.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cornute”; 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- / cornute

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