Cornet
/ˈkɔːr.nɪt/noun
A brass musical instrument with a compact, conical tube similar to a trumpet; also, a rolled pastry.
Did you know?The musical cornet and the pastry cornette both trace back to French forms of Latin cornu, meaning “horn,” a root that also gave English words like unicorn and corneal.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ḱer-
“to grow, project; horn-like projection”
Latin
Latin
cornu
“horn; a projecting point or crescent-shaped object”
Old French
Old French
cornet
“little horn; a small horn-shaped object”
Middle English
English
cornet
“a small horn; later a horn player or a brass instrument”
Modern English
English
cornet
“a brass instrument with a bright, compact tone; also a cone-shaped pastry”