Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
hornist

hornist

1 8.1
A musician who plays the French horn
  • noun
  • /ˈhɔrnɪst/
: cornista
  • Trombonists, baritone hornists, and tubists can play or adapt the bassoon parts.
  • a French hornist

Examples

  • At the festival, a renowned hornist showcased her skills with the French horn.

  • Her problem as a French hornist, if I might say, is that she practiced.

  • The talented hornist played a beautiful solo during the concert.

  • During the orchestra's performance, the hornist received a standing ovation for his breathtaking interpretation of the piece.

Surface Forms

hornist singular
hornists plural

Morphology

hornist = horn (transparent) = horn + ist

The agentive suffix '-ist' combines with 'horn' in a regular way to mean 'one who plays the horn'.

Etymology

The word hornist is built from horn and the ending -ist, like in pianist or violinist. Horn is the instrument and -ist means 'a person who does something', so a hornist is 'a person who plays the horn', often the French horn.