cornet

American  

[kawr-net, kawr-nit, kawr-net] / kɔrˈnɛt, ˈkɔr nɪt, kɔrˈnɛt /

noun

• cornets
  plural

1. Music. a valved wind instrument of the trumpet family.

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

3. a pastry cone, usually filled with whipped cream.

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

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

6. 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.

7. a pennant or flag used for signaling in a navy.

8. (formerly) the officer who carried the colors in a troop of cavalry.

   the cornet of horse.

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cornet British  

/ ˈkɔːnɪt /

noun

1. Also called: cornet à pistons.  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

2. a person who plays the cornet

3. a variant spelling of cornett

4. a cone-shaped paper container for sweets, etc

5. a cone-shaped wafer container for ice cream

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

7. short for field cornet

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

9. the large white headdress of some nuns

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cornets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cornet

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

Explanation

A cornet is a brass instrument that looks like a smaller, wider trumpet. The cornet used to be a common feature of jazz bands, until it was replaced by the trumpet. The cornet sounds similar to a trumpet, but softer and mellower. This difference in tone or timbre is why a cornet can't usually be played as a substitute for a trumpet (or vice versa), even though they are played in the same way and at identical pitches. They simply sound different. The word cornet comes from the original cornet-à-pistons, or "cornet with valves," and the Latin cornu, "horn."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cornet cornets

An inventive trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong shifted jazz away from an ensemble experience with collective improvisation to one focused on solo performance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026

His most recent release, in 2022, was a trio album, “Heart Is a Melody,” with Kirk Knuffke on cornet and Matt Wilson on drums.

From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2023

A 95-year-old cornet player has been honoured with a Guinness world record for his lifelong love of music.

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2023

Here's a deep dive into this fundamental pastry technique that covers the origin of this humble parchment tool, other methods for making a cornet and the best ways to use it.

From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2023

People in the house were tormented almost to death by his incessant fumbling cornet practice.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

To maximize a large parchment paper sheet, Chef Chavez says you can make eight cornets out of one sheet of paper.

From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2023

Gougères were served, along with Keller’s signature cornets: salmon-tartare-filled ice-cream cones the size of golf tees.

From The New Yorker ● Feb. 26, 2017

In the La Pasion Sevilla brass band, all the cornets are sopranos.

From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2012

Despite its aura, the drum looks modest and meek surrounded by cabinets chockablock with bassoons and oboes, cornets and bugles, not to mention the odd oliphant, ocarina and shofar.

From New York Times ● Aug. 5, 2010

By seven o'clock the orchestra has arrived--no thin five-piece affair but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and high drums.

From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald