hornet

Hornet comes from Middle English hernet, from Old English hyrnetu, tracing back through Proto-West Germanic *hurnutu to Proto-Germanic *hurznutō. Further back lies Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂sro-, meaning 'hornet,' literally 'the one with horns' — a reference to its antennae — from the root *ḱerh₂- meaning 'horn.'

The name has stayed remarkably close to its original sense throughout — it was always a word for this particular stinging insect, singled out by its horn-like antennae.

German Hornisse and Dutch horzel are close cousins from the same Germanic root, while Latin crābrō and Lithuanian širšė show how far the same ancient root for 'horn' spread across unrelated language branches, all landing on words for buzzing, stinging insects.