What does horny mean
What does horny mean
Etymology of «horny»
What is the etymology of «horny»?
Wiktionary doesn’t have any etymology info
The Online Etymology Dictionary says that it is based on the slang expression «have the horn», but it doesn’t have any etymology info on that phrase.
4 Answers 4
The OED has this definition for the slang sense of horn:
An erect penis; an erection. Also in phr. to have (also get) the horn: to be sexually excited. (Not in polite use.)
The earliest two citations in the OED are:
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Horn Cholick, a temporary priapism.
1879–80 Pearl (1970) 257 A man with light trousers, of decency shorn, Stop and talk to young ladies while having the horn.
According to the OED, horny originally meant «consisting of horn» (citations from 1398 onwards), later «Callous or hardened so as to be horn-like in texture» (1693). Then in 1889 it was first attested with this meaning:
Sexually excited; lecherous. (Chiefly used of a man.) Cf. horn n. 5c. slang.
(Horn 5c is the definition of horn that I’ve cited above.)
Green’s Dictionary of Slang gives the following etymology for horn:
(where SE means «standard English» according to his list of abbreviations).
And for «horny», his etymology simply refers us back to that definition of «horn» and hence that etymology.
horny (adj.) «lustful, sexually aroused,» definitely in use 1889, perhaps attested as early as 1863; from late 18c. slang expression to have the horn, suggestive of male sexual excitement (but eventually applied to women as well); see horn (n.).
Perhaps «horn» is a slang word for the male member in a state of excitement and, by analogy, «horny» meaning having a woody?
Something I remember reading a long time ago on Google Books: The Words of the Day. The Unlikely Evolution of Common English by Steven M. Cerutti, Ph.D.
Horny is apparently an allusion to the horned Egyptian god Amun or Ammon, who was in charge of, among other things, virility and procreation. The Wikipedia page has some graphic images attesting the very same.
Several words derive from Amun via the Greek form, Ammon, such as ammonia and ammonite. The Romans called the ammonium chloride they collected from deposits near the Temple of Jupiter-Amun in ancient Libya sal ammoniacus (salt of Amun) because of proximity to the nearby temple. Ammonia, as well as being the chemical, is a genus name in the foraminifera. Both these foraminiferans (shelled Protozoa) and ammonites (extinct shelled cephalopods) bear spiral shells resembling a ram’s, and Ammon’s, horns. The regions of the hippocampus in the brain are called the cornu ammonis – literally «Amun’s Horns», due to the horned appearance of the dark and light bands of cellular layers.
What does horny mean
It means feeling sexually excited or aroused. It’s slang. It’s commonly used but it’s not appropriate for other than very casual conversations.
Horny = sexually excited. Yes, it is a common word.
«After seeing the beautiful girl, he felt horny.»
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What does horny mean
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Definitions for horny
ˈhɔr ni horny
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word horny.
Princeton’s WordNet (2.83 / 6 votes) Rate this definition:
aroused, horny, randy, ruttish, steamy, turned on(p) adjective
feeling great sexual desire
having horns or hornlike projections
«horny coral»; «horny (or horned) frog»
corneous, hornlike, horny adjective
made of horn (or of a substance resembling horn)
Wiktionary (2.50 / 2 votes) Rate this definition:
Hard or bony, like an animal’s horn.
«In 1997, 4th and 5th grade Waterville Elementary students told me they saw Short-horned lizards (commonly known as Horny toads) all around their area.» http://depts.washington.edu/natmap/projects/waterville/begin.html
That girl makes me feel horny.
That chick is so horny!
Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary (0.00 / 0 votes) Rate this definition:
Etymology: from horn.
1. Made of horn. 2. Resembling horn.
The horny or pellucid coat of the eye doth not lie in the same superficies with the white of the eye, but riseth up above its convexity, and is of an hyperbolical figure. John Ray.
3. Hard as horn; callous.
Webster Dictionary (0.00 / 0 votes) Rate this definition:
having horns or hornlike projections
composed or made of horn, or of a substance resembling horn; of the nature of horn
Freebase (0.00 / 0 votes) Rate this definition:
«Horny ’98» is a house song by producer Mousse T. and pop duo Hot ‘n’ Juicy, which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in June 1998. The single entered the UK chart at number three on 6 June 1998, peaking one place higher the following week and staying on the chart for 17 weeks. The song was written by Keith David & Mousse T..
to get horny
1 (*)HORNY
Hot (to be hot) — это и «возбуждать» в сугубо физиологическом смысле, и «быть на гребне популярности, успеха» (скажем: «горячий хит»). Оба значения популярны.
Hot for someone (to be) — испытывать к этому объекту влечение.
(*)Hot shit — агрессивный, самоуверенный, неотразимый.
См. также в других словарях:
horny — [[t]hɔ͟ː(r)ni[/t]] hornier, horniest 1) ADJ GRADED If you describe someone as horny, you mean that they are sexually aroused or that they easily become sexually aroused. [INFORMAL] But don t you get frustrated sometimes? I mean, don t you get a… … English dictionary
horny — adj sexually aroused, lustful. Although the horn in question is the penis (in an image which dates from the 18th century, if not earlier), the expression is now used by and about both sexes, sometimes in col ourful phrases such as horny as a hoot … Contemporary slang
Get the Funk Out — Single infobox Name = Get the Funk Out Artist = Extreme from Album = Released = 1991 Format = CD maxi Recorded = 1990 Genre = Hard rock, Funk metal Length = 4:24 (Get the Funk Out) 13:27 (CD maxi single) Writer = Nuno Bettencourt Gary Cherone… … Wikipedia
get the horn — vb to achieve an erection. A vulgarism employing the horn as a penis metaphor, heard more commonly in the adjective horny. Get the horn is now mainly heard in uneducated adult speech and the lan guage of schoolchildren. To be on the (h)orn is an… … Contemporary slang
get off on — Verb. To enjoy greatly, to be thrilled, often sexually. E.g. She looked so horny; I really got off on that skin tight rubber dress … English slang and colloquialisms
Me So Horny — Single by 2 Live Crew from the album As Nasty As They Wanna Be R … Wikipedia
Air Farce Live — For the comedy album of the same name, see Air Farce Live (album). Air Farce Live Format Comedy Directed by Perry Rosemond … Wikipedia
2 Unlimited — en concert live (1994). Pays d’origine … Wikipédia en Français
List of Late Night with Conan O’Brien sketches — For a list of sketches that debuted on The Tonight Show with Conan O Brien, see List of The Tonight Show with Conan O Brien sketches. The following is a list of sketches which debuted on Late Night with Conan O Brien on NBC. Contents 1 Late Night … Wikipedia