Cone

How to spell cone

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce cone

What does cone mean?

1. nounA solid or hollow shape that narrows evenly from a round base to a single point, or an object of that form.

Cone in a sentence

• The child held a melting ice cream cone in the sun.

• A bright orange traffic cone blocked the outer lane.

Where does cone come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word comes from the Greek konos, which originally named a pine cone and the cone-shaped object as well as the peak of a helmet. The Greeks then borrowed the same word into mathematics for the solid figure that tapers smoothly from a circular base to a single point. Latin took it up as conus, and from there it passed into French as cone before arriving in English in the late 1500s. Over time the word spread far beyond geometry to cover the cone-bearing fruit of pine and fir trees, the holder for ice cream, and the bright traffic markers on a road. The same konos root still hides inside coniferous, the word for trees that bear cones, which is a useful reminder of why the spelling stays so simple and regular.

How the word is built

• cone (from Greek konos: a pine cone or geometric cone)