The story
- Middle High German · derived fromengellisches horn“angelic horn”
- French · borrowed fromcor anglais
- English todaycor anglais
Borrowed from French cor anglais (literally “English horn”), calqued from a misunderstanding of Middle High German engellisches horn (“angelic horn”), from the resemblance of the instrument to horns played by angels as depicted in the Middle Ages.
Words from the same roots
Frenchcor anglais all →
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.