cornutus

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Latin

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Etymology

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From cornū (“horn”) +‎ -tus (adjective-forming suffix). The connexion between "having horns" and "cuckolded" is found across many languages, cf. English horned, German Hörner aufsetzen, Turkish boynuzlamak and in all Romance languages. The origin of this connexion is disputed.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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cornūtus (feminine cornūta, neuter cornūtum); first/second-declension adjective

  1. horned, having horns.
  2. (Medieval Latin, New Latin) cuckolded
    • 1738, Georg Adam Struve, Syntagma jurisprudentiae 3.844:
      idem est, sī quis marītum cornūtum dīcat [...], quoniam per cōnsequentiam saltem tangit injūria marītum, prīncipāliter vērō uxōrem, utpote per quam marītus cornūtus dēmum fit.[1]
      The same is valid for when someone calls a husband cuckolded, since the injury hits the husband at least indirectly, though mainly the wife, as by whom the husband becomes a cuckold in the first place.
    • 1735, Christoph Heinrich Freiesleben, Compendium juris Schutzio-Lauterbachianum 2.1172:
      cāsus, quō ipsī uxōrī immediātē injūria facta, utrīque tamen conjugī est commūnis: ut, sī marītus cornūtus vel corōnātus adpellētur, quia hoc convīcium necessāriō injūriam uxōris involvit.[2]
      An incident by which only the wife suffered immediate injury, nevertheless pertains to both spouses: just as when a husband is called horned (=cuckolded) or wreathed, because this insult necessarily involves a wrongdoing of the wife.
    • 1693, Johann Schütze, Opus homagio-nuptiale 190:
      Drūsius, ei quī uxōrem habet adulteram, affingī solēre duo cornua [...] ostendit. vocātur autem vir cornūtus [...]. cornua enim potestātem significant, tālis autem marītus simulācrum potius potestātis est marītālis, quam quod rēvērā potestātem habeat. aliam prōfert Philander von Sittwald in Vīsiōnibus, ideō marītō cornua competere, quia caput est, dum inquit:
      Sī quandō sacra jūra torī violāverit uxor,
      cūr gerit immeritus cornua vir? caput est.[3]
      Drusius points out that two horns use to be added to one whose wife is an adulteress. The husband then is called horned (=cuckolded). For horns indicate being in charge, and such a husband only seemingly is in marital charge, rather than actually being it. A different interpretation presents Philander von Sittwald in his book of visions: The horns are attributed to the husband, because he represents the head in this distich (by John Owen) which he cites: "If the wife violates the sacred law of the conjugal bed, why does the husband undeservedly carry horns? He is the head."
      (Can someone make sense out of this?)
    • 1668, Agostinho Barbosa, Repertorium juris civilis et canonici 182:
      et uxor agit contrā illum, quī vocāvit cornūtum marītum suum [...] et injūria īnfertur sī quis dīcat: 'tū es bonus homō', quia intellegitur quod vocat eum cornūtum.[4]
      and the wife litigates against him, for he called her husband cuckolded [...] and it's treated as an injury if someone says to another: "you are a good guy", because it insinuates that he was cuckolded.

Declension

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First/second-declension adjective.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative cornūtus cornūta cornūtum cornūtī cornūtae cornūta
Genitive cornūtī cornūtae cornūtī cornūtōrum cornūtārum cornūtōrum
Dative cornūtō cornūtō cornūtīs
Accusative cornūtum cornūtam cornūtum cornūtōs cornūtās cornūta
Ablative cornūtō cornūtā cornūtō cornūtīs
Vocative cornūte cornūta cornūtum cornūtī cornūtae cornūta

Synonyms

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Descendants

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References

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  • “cornutus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • servus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • cornutus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • “cornutus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • cornutus in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎[5], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
  • “cornutus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
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