cornet

[kawr-net for 1; kawr-nit, kawr-net for 2–8]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cornet ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Music. a valved wind instrument of the trumpet family.

a small cone of paper twisted at the end and used for holding candy, nuts, etc.

a pastry cone, usually filled with whipped cream.

British. a conical wafer, as for ice cream; cone.

a large, white, winged headdress formerly worn by the members of the Sisters of Charity.

a woman's headdress, often cone-shaped, usually of delicate fabrics and having lappets of lace or other material, worn by women from the 14th to the 18th century.

a pennant or flag used for signaling in a navy.

(formerly) the officer who carried the colors in a troop of cavalry: the cornet of horse.

RELATED WORDS

trumpet, horn

Nearby words

Origin of cornet

1325–75; Middle English < Middle French, Old French, equivalent to corn horn (< Latin cornū; see cornu) + -et -et

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cornet

Richard Wagner made a living, during four lean years, arranging Italian opera arias for the cornet.
Damn!|Henry Louis Mencken
“Where,” cried the Cornet, also relieving himself of his burden.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 377, March 1847|Various
As thus: 'Did you favour any gentleman when you rode out, the cornet being of your guard?'
The Fifth Queen Crowned|Ford Madox Ford
In the Five Towns the number of cornet players is scarcely exceeded by the number of public-houses.
The Matador of the Five Towns and Other Stories|Arnold Bennett

As a rule noise of any kind affected him very little, and at first he took no notice whatever of young Kerrigan's cornet.
General John Regan|George A. Birmingham

British Dictionary definitions for cornet

cornet

noun

Also called: cornet à pistons (ˈkɔːnɪt ə ˈpɪstənz, French kɔrnɛ a pistɔ̃) a three-valved brass instrument of the trumpet family. Written range: about two and a half octaves upwards from E below middle C. It is a transposing instrument in B flat or A

a person who plays the cornet

a variant spelling of cornett

a cone-shaped paper container for sweets, etc

British a cone-shaped wafer container for ice cream

(formerly) the lowest rank of commissioned cavalry officer in the British army

Southern African short for field cornet

a starched and wired muslin or lace cap worn by women from the 12th to the 15th centuries

the large white headdress of some nuns

Word Origin for cornet

C14: from Old French, from corn, from Latin cornū horn

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

Word Origin and History for cornet

cornet

c.1400, "A wind instrument made of wood and provided with six finger holes" [Middle English Dictionary], from Old French cornet (14c.) "a small horn," diminutive of corn "a horn," from Latin cornu "horn" (see horn (n.)). Modern use is short for cornet-à-pistons "cornet with pistons."

The quality of the tone is penetrating and unsympathetic, by no means equal to that of the trumpet, for which it is commonly substituted. ["cornet" entry in "Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia," 1902]