Standard Lemma guide

carnyx

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkɑːnɪks/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈkɑɹnɪks/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkɑːnɪsiːz/
  • General-American: /ˈkɑɹnəˌsiz/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts (c. 200 B.C.E. – 200 C.E.) as a type of battle trumpet; held vertically when played, it was shaped like an elongated S with a mouthpiece at the lower end and a bell (often resembling an animal with an open mouth) at the upper end.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, music

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin carnyx, from Byzantine Greek κάρνυξ (kárnux, “carnyx”), from κάρνον (kárnon, “carnyx”) (both translating Galatian words into Greek), from Gaulish carno- (“horn of an animal”) (used in names), from Proto-Celtic *karnos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh2- (“head, top; horn of an animal”).

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: карникс (karniks) — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Catalan: càrnix — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Czech: karnyx — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Dutch: carnyx — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Finnish: carnyx — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • French: carnyx — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • French: carnix — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Galician: carnyx — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • German: Carnyx — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • German: Carnix — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Greek: κάρνυξ (kárnyx) — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Ancient Greek: κᾰ́ρνον (kắrnon) — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Italian: carnyx — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Italian: carnix — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Latin: carnyx — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Lithuanian: karnyksas — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Macedonian: карникс (karniks) — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Russian: карникс (karniks) — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Spanish: cárnix — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Swedish: carnyx — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Tamil: காரின்சு (kāriṉcu) — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet
  • Ukrainian: ка́рнікс (kárniks) — bronze wind instrument used by Iron Age Celts as a type of battle trumpet