Cornwall
/ˈkɔːn.wɔːl/noun
A county in southwest England, historically the land of the Cornovii/Cornish people.
Did you know?Cornwall’s name is generally traced to a Celtic tribal name, *Cornovii*, from a root meaning “horn,” likely referring to a horn-shaped peninsula or headland.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Celtic
PCelt
*kornu-
“horn”
Latin
Lat
cornu
“horn”
Late Roman / Early Medieval
Brittonic
*Kernow / *Cornovii
“the horned people / people of the horn-shaped region”
Old English
OE
Wealas and Cornwealas
“the Cornish people; literally “foreigners of Cornwall” in Anglo-Saxon usage”
11th–12th Century
Middle English
Cornwal / Cornwale
“the region and its people in southwest Britain”
Modern English
Eng
Cornwall
“the county in southwest England”