Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “horny” come from?

Horny comes from Middle English horny, likely derived from horn with the adjective suffix -y, though the exact sense development remains uncertain.

horny (English): Hard or bony, like an animal's horn; Having...

Definitions

  1. Hard or bony, like an animal's horn; Having...

Ancestry of “horny”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishhorny—

Words derived from “horny”

  • horniness
  • hornily
  • hornyhead
  • unhorny
  • hornify
  • horny-handed
  • superhorny
  • horny-handedness
  • horny-handedly
  • ultra-horny
Every word from Middle English horny →