Corner

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈkɔːnə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. The point or area where two lines, edges, or surfaces meet, especially at an angle; a section of a street where two roads intersect; to force someone into a confined position or situation from which they cannot escape
2. The junction formed by two intersecting edges or roads forming an angle; a neighborhood or locality near such an intersection; to trap or put someone in a difficult or inescapable position
3. The angular point at which two sides or borders join; an intersection of streets or pathways; to press or drive a person or an opponent into a restricted or disadvantageous spot without escape

Etymology: The English word "corner" is a horn in disguise. Old French "corne" meant both the animal horn and a projecting point or angle, and the sense "corner" is not found in Latin or in other Romance languages, which suggests French may have borrowed it from a Germanic idea. The likely model is Frankish "hurnijā", "corner" or "angle", built on "hurn", the Frankish word for "horn". A bend in a room or a street, in other words, was imagined as a projecting horn. English had its own word for this too. Old English "hyrne" meant a little horn, hook, or angle, and it survives as the now-rare "hirn", a nook or secluded spot. The native word was displaced, however, by the French-derived "corner", which reached English in Middle English through Anglo-Norman "cornere". Old English "sċēat", another native word for a corner or angle, was similarly lost.

Synonyms: angle, intersection, bend, junction, crook

Antonyms: straightaway, line