Cornish

American  

[kawr-nish] / ˈkɔr nɪʃ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Cornwall, England, its inhabitants, or the Cornish language.

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noun

1. the Celtic language of Cornwall, extinct since c1800.

2. one of an English breed of chickens raised chiefly for crossing with other breeds to produce roasters.

Cornish British  

/ ˈkɔːnɪʃ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Cornwall, its inhabitants, their former language, or their present-day dialect of English

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noun

1. a former language of Cornwall, belonging to the S Celtic branch of the Indo-European family and closely related to Breton: extinct by 1800

2. (functioning as plural) the natives or inhabitants of Cornwall

Etymology

Origin of Cornish

1350–1400; late Middle English, apparently syncopated variant of Middle English Cornwelisse. See Cornwall, -ish ¹

Example Sentences

It has been deployed in debates ranging from conditions in armed forces housing to the sewerage system of a Cornish hospital.

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

"It creates a band of access land from the trail to the high water mark, so that means you can leave the trail to go and roam the beaches," Cornish says.

From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026

John Weedon, director of Cornish distributor Mitchell and Webber, said the firm had received a large number of orders over the past week.

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2026

Councillor Loveday Jenkin welcomed the idea of bilingual signage in supermarkets in the area, but said it should be in "Cornish not Welsh".

From BBC • Feb. 4, 2026

He carried it over to a table, opened it, and quickly skimmed through it, wondering why a history of Cornish tin should have been of interest to Ian Rider.

From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz