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PlainSpell

horn

/hɔɹn/noun, verb

horn is spelled H-O-R-N: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, horn means “A hard growth of keratin that protrudes from the top of the head of certain animals, usually paired” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of horn is horns.

How many letters and syllables are in horn?

Letters4: H-O-R-N
Syllables1
In writing14 times per million words; the 5,679th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is horn?

Horn appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce horn?

  • UK /hɔːn/
  • US /hɔɹn/
  • /ˈhɑːɹˠn/

Horn has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-horn.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-horn.wav, En-us-horn.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with horn?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as horn from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɹn/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of horn

  • horns plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • horning participle, present
  • horned participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does horn mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A hard growth of keratin that protrudes from the top of the head of certain animals, usually paired.

  2. 2

    Any similar real or imaginary growth or projection such as the elongated tusk of a narwhal, the eyestalk of a snail, the pointed growth on the nose of a rhinoceros, or the hornlike projection on the head of a demon or similar.

  3. 3

    An antler.

  4. 4

    The hard substance from which animals' horns are made, sometimes used by man as a material for making various objects.

    an umbrella with a handle made of horn

  5. 5

    A vessel made from a horn, to contain drink, ink, gunpowder, etc.

  6. 6

    One of the two corners of a crescent, particularly of the crescent moon

  7. 7

    The high pommel of a saddle; also, either of the projections on a lady's saddle for supporting the leg.

  8. 8

    The Ionic volute.

verb

  1. 1

    Of an animal, to assault with the horns.

  2. 2

    To furnish with horns.

  3. 3

    obsoleteslangTo cuckold.

  4. 4

    IndiaTo sound the horn of a motor vehicle; to honk.

    , His Precious Gem He horned five times but the man didn't moved his car away.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Horn in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcorne (growth on the heads of certain animals), cor (any of several musical wind instruments), klaxon (loud alarm, especially on a motor vehicle), cuivres (informal: generally, any brass wind instrument)
GermanHorn (growth on the heads of certain animals), Waldhorn (any of several musical wind instruments), Jagdhorn (instrument used to signal others)
Portuguesechifre, corno (growth on the heads of certain animals), trompa (any of several musical wind instruments)
Spanishcuerno, cacho, asta, guampa (growth on the heads of certain animals), queratina (substance)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does horn come from?

From Middle English horn, horne, from Old English horn, from Proto-West Germanic *horn, from Proto-Germanic *hurną. Compare West Frisian hoarn, Dutch hoorn, Low German Hoorn, horn, German Horn, Danish and Swedish horn, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽 (haurn).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after horn