English

hornpipe

Hornpipe comes from Middle English hornepipe.

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

Formed from horn + pipe

Middle English horn

English horn

Latin pīpō ‘to pip, peep’

Vulgar Latin *pīpa

Proto-West Germanic *pīpā

Old English pīpe

Middle English pīpe ‘a piece of tubing which string or rope is…’

English pipe

From Middle English hornpipe, hornpype, hornepipe, equivalent to horn + pipe; so called because the bell at the open end was sometimes made of horn.

Every English word from Middle English hornepipe

noun A musical instrument consisting of a wooden pipe, with holes at intervals.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.