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Cornish

American  
[kawr-nish] / ˈkɔr nɪʃ /

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Cornwall, England, its inhabitants, or the Cornish language.


noun

  1. the Celtic language of Cornwall, extinct since c1800.

  2. one of an English breed of chickens raised chiefly for crossing with other breeds to produce roasters.

Cornish British  
/ ˈkɔːnɪʃ /

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Cornwall, its inhabitants, their former language, or their present-day dialect of English

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a former language of Cornwall, belonging to the S Celtic branch of the Indo-European family and closely related to Breton: extinct by 1800

  2. (functioning as plural) the natives or inhabitants of Cornwall

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Cornish

1350–1400; late Middle English, apparently syncopated variant of Middle English Cornwelisse. See Cornwall, -ish 1


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Eventually Benjamin, no longer an enfeebled old man after more than a decade of life, finds the courage to escape his house and go—where else, in a Cornish village?—down to the pub.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

Taylor also revealed how the group perfected their trademark harmonies by singing in a cave on a Cornish beach because they loved the "big sound".

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

The former Conservative prime minister and his wife gave their youngest daughter Florence a middle name of Endellion in honour of the Cornish area where they were staying before she was born in 2010.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Amongst the collection of bags brought up on one such Cornish trip were cuttings of a small red algae which was pink-banded with pincer tips.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

He carried it over to a table, opened it, and quickly skimmed through it, wondering why a history of Cornish tin should have been of interest to Ian Rider.

From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz

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