This is a select list of Cornish dialect words in English—while some of these terms are obsolete others remain in use. Many Cornish dialect words have their origins in the Cornish language and others belong to the West Saxon group of dialects: consequently words listed may not be exclusive to Cornwall.
Abroad - open: "laive the door abroad, boy."Addled - 1. spoilt, rotten 2. empty, cracked or broken; e.g. addled eggsAger - ugly (Zennor, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language hager)Agerever - pollack (Marazion, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language hager euver, meaning 'ugly useless')Aglets - hawthorn berriesAgone - ago; as in 'a week agone' (mid and east Cornwall)Ake - a groove made on the stone of a killick (Mousehole, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language ak, meaning 'a slit', or 'a cleft')Allycumpooster - all right (Camborne, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language oll yn kompoester, meaning 'all in order')Anker - a small barrel (mining term, ultimately from Mediaeval Latin anceria ["a small vat"] perhaps influenced by Cornish language keryn, meaning 'open barrel' or 'tub'. Compare Danish anker ["beer barrel, wine cask, anker"])Ansome - lovely (from "handsome"); Me ansome ("my handsome") (familiar way to address a man)Anvon - a hard stone on which large stones are broken (mining term, from Cornish language anwen, meaning 'anvil'))Areah, Arear, Aree faa - an exclamation of surprise (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language revedh, meaning 'strange', 'astounding', or 'a wonder')Arish (also written [and alternatively pronounced] arrish, ersh, aish, airish, errish, hayrish and herrish) - arable field (from Middle English *ersch, from Old English ersc [“a park, preserve; stubble-field”], perhaps influenced by Cornish language arys)Arish mow - a stack of sheaves (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language arys)Are 'em - are 'em/aren't theyAye? - I beg your pardon?, yes?, what was that?Ayes (pronounced, 'ace') - yes (see also: "Ess", below). Perhaps from Old Norse ei ("forever") + Old English sī(e) ("may it be"), like "yes" (which is from Middle English yes, yis, which is from Old English ġēse, ġīse, ġȳse, *ġīese [“yes, of course, so be it”], equivalent to ġēa [“yes", "so”] + sī[e] [“may it be”]). Alternatively, a modification of "aye" based on "yes". Further, possibly a conflation of any (or all) of the previous, and "ess", which may represent a dialectal form of "yes".Backalong - in former timesBal - a mine (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language, related to palas, meaning 'to dig')Bal maiden - a woman working at a mineBall - a pest, used figuratively (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language ball meaning 'a pest', or 'the plague')Bamfer - to worry, harass, or tormentBannal - the broom plant (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language banal, short for banadhel, meaning 'broom')Bean - (see "vean")Berrin - funeral (burying)Better fit/better way - it would be better if...Bilders - cow parsleyBimper - a peeping tomBiskan - a finger-stall (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language byskon, meaning 'thimble', or 'finger sheath')Bits - spinach-beet, green beet-leaves, Chard (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language betys, meaning 'edible plants of the genus Beta')Bladder - blister (part of mid Cornwall and north east Cornwall)Bleddy - local pronunciation of 'bloody' as an emphasising adjective (e.g. "dang the bleddy goat")Bobber lip - bruised and swollen lipBorbas - a rockling (Newlyn, Mousehole, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language barvus, meaning 'bearded')Bothel - a blister (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language bothel)Bothack - the bib, or pouting (Mousehole, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language bothek, meaning 'bossed', or 'hunchback')Bothack - a hunchback (Mullion, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language bothek)Boughten - bought (i.e. food from a shop rather than home-made)Bowjy - a cattle-house (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language bowji)Brae / brer - quite a lotBreal - a mackerel (Newlyn, Mousehole, Porthleven, St Ives, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language brithel)Brink - the gills of a fish (Mount's Bay, St Ives, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language brenk)Browjans - small fragments (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language brywsyon, or brywjyon, meaning 'crumbs', 'fragments')Browse - undergrowthBrowse - pulped bait (Mount's Bay, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language bryws, meaning 'crumbled material', or bros, 'thick broth')Broze - a blaze, a great heat (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language bros, meaning 'extremely hot')Brummal Mow - an arish mow of domed form (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language bern moel, meaning 'bald stack')Bruyans, Brewions - crumbs, fragments (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language brywyon)Bucca - an imp, hobgoblin, scarecrow (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language bocka)Buddy - a cluster, a clump (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language bodas, meaning 'bunched', or boden, meaning 'a bunch', or 'a grouping', related to the Breton bodad and boden)Buffon - a bruise (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language bothenn, meaning 'a swelling')Bulgranack - the smooth blenny (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language pol gronek, meaning 'pool toad')Bulorn - a snail (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language, related to Breton bigorn, a sea snail, or to Irish ballan, a shell)Bully - large pebble (from Cornish language bili, meaning 'pebbles')Bulugen - an earthworm (Mousehole, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language buthugan)Bunny (also written as "bunney" and "bonie") - a bunch of ore, an unusual concentration of ore (From Middle English bony, boni [“swelling, tumor”], from Old French bugne, buigne [“swelling, lump”], from Old Frankish *bungjo [“swelling, bump”], from Proto-Germanic *bungô, *bunkô [“lump, clump, heap, crowd”]. Usage perhaps influenced by Cornish language bennigys, meaning 'blessed')Burd - (second person singular) bud as in "buddy"Burgam - a jocular term of reproach (Gwinear, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language berrgamm, meaning 'crookshank')Burn - a load, as much turf, furze, etc., as one can carry; of hake or pollack, twenty-one fish. (in use after the year 1800, either from Cornish language bern, meaning 'a stack', 'a heap', or a variation of bourn ("limit"))Burrow - heap of (usually) mining related waste, but sometimes used simply to mean "pile"Buster - someone full of fun and mischief. (Originally a variant of "burster", but later influenced (and reanalysed) separately by/as "bust" + -er. The combining form of the term has appeared from the early 20th century but been especially prolific since the 1940s, owing to its appearance as military slang).Buzza, Bussa - large salting pot or bread-bin, (still in use, from Cornish language boos seth, meaning 'food jar', or related to Breton boñs, a hogshead barrel) also found in phrase "dafter than a buzza" very daftB'y - boy, (second person singular) like sirCabester, Cobesta - the part of a fishing tackle connecting the hook with the lead (Mousehole, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kabester, meaning 'a halter', 'noose' or 'loop')Caboolen, Cabooly-stone - a holed stone, tied to a rope, and used to drive pilchards or mackerel back from the opening of a seine (Mount's Bay, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kabolen, meaning 'a stirrer', 'a mixer')Cack - filth (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kawgh, meaning 'excrement')Caggle, Gaggle - to cover in filth (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kagla, meaning 'void excrement', 'spatter with filth)Cakey - soft, feeble minded (from 'put in with the cakes and taken out with the buns' - half baked)Cal - tungstate of iron (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kall)Calamajeena, Calavajina - a thornback (St Ives, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language karleyth vejiner, meaning 'buckle/hinge ray')Calcar - the lesser weever (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kalkar)Calken, Calican - the father-lasher (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kalken)Callan - a hard layer on the face of a rock (St Just, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kales, meaning 'hard', or kall, 'tungstate of iron')Cand, Cam - fluorspar (St Just, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kann, meaning 'brightness')Canker - a harbour crab (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kanker, meaning 'a crab')Cannikeeper - a spider crab (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kanker)Canter - a frame for a fishing-line, originally a peg was used (Newlyn, Mousehole, Sennen, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kenter, meaning 'a nail')Care - the mountain ash, or rowan (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kerdhin)Carn - a pile of rocks (used as a word and also as a place-name element, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language karn)Carn tyer - quartz (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kannter, meaning 'bright whiteness', or kanndir, meaning 'bright white ground')Carrack - a stone composed of quartz, schorl and hornblende (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language karrek, meaning 'a rock')Cassabully - winter cress (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kas beler, meaning 'nasty cress')Casteeg - to flog (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language kastiga)Catched - caughtCatchpit - a place in the home where everything is droppedCauch - a mess (in use after the year 1800, see cack)Caunse - paved way (from Cornish language cons)Chacking - thirstyChacks - cheeksChea chaunter, cheechonter - stop your chatter! (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language ti tewelder, meaning 'swear silence')Cheel - child especially girl "a boy or a cheel"Cheldern - childrenChewidden Thursday - a miners' festival (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language dy' Yow gwynn, with Late Cornish gwydn, meaning 'white Thursday')Chimley - chimneyChirks - remnants of fire, embers; "chirk" burrows where used coal was found near mines (from Cornish language towargh, via Late Cornish chowark, meaning 'peat or turf for burning')Churchtown - the settlement where the parish church is locatedClacky - sticky and chewy foodClim (up) - climb (everywhere except west of Camborne and Helston)Clip - sharp in speaking, curt, having taken offenceCloam - crockery, pottery, earthenwareCloam oven - earthenware built-in ovenClunk - swallow; clunker - windpipeCousin Jack - a Cornish emigrant miner; "Cousin Jacks" is a nickname for the overseas Cornish, thought to derive from the practice of Cornishmen asking if job vacancies could be filled by their cousin named Jack in Cornwall.Crease - children's truce term (west Cornwall) (from the Cornish word for "peace")Crib - a mid-morning break for a snack (see below also)Croust (or Crowst) - a mid-morning break for a snack (usually west Cornwall) (from Cornish language croust)Cummas 'zon - come on, hurry upCundard - a drainCuss - curseDaft - sillyDag - short hatchet or axe (miner's dag); also in phrase "Face like a dag"Dashel - thistleDenner - dinner, evening mealDevoner - someone from Devon (used in a derogatory sense)Didikoy - gypsy (mid and east Cornwall)Didnus - Didn't weDilley - wheeled play trolley made from wood and pram wheelsDishwasher - water-wagtailDobeck - somebody stupid ("great dobeck")Dram - swathDrash - thresh; "drasher" = thresherDreckley / Dreckly - at some point in the future; soon, but not immediately; like "mañana", but less urgent (derives from English "directly" but differs in meaning) (c.p. Presently, British English, but formerly the meaning was "immediately")Dreckzel - threshold of a doorwayDry (china clay) - a dry is where the sludge gets processed (e.g. Wenford Dries)Dryth - drying power, "There's no dryth in the wind today"Dummity - low light level, overcastDurns - door frame'e - contraction of "he" but used in place of "it"Ee - contraction of theeEeval - farmer's fork implementEmmet - ant or more recently tourist (mildly derogatory); four-legged emmet (mid-Cornwall) - newt'er - she (East Cornwall)Ess - yes (see also, "Ayes", above)Ewe (cat) - she cat (mid and west Cornwall)Fains - children's truce term (east Cornwall)Fall - autumn, Fall (south of a line from Mount's Bay to Launceston)Figgy hobbin - lump of dough, cooked with a handful of raisins (raisins being "figs" and figs "broad raisins")Fitty - proper, properlyFizzogg - face (colloquial form of "physiognomy")Flam-new - brand new (from Cornish language flamm noweth)Fly, Flies - hands of a dial or clockFolks - people (mid and east Cornwall)Fossick - to search for something by rummaging, to prospect for minerals (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language feusik, meaning 'lucky' or 'fortunate')Fradge - repairFuggan - pastry dinner-cakeFurze, furzy - gorse, covered with gorse, as in the local saying at Stratton "Stratton was a market town when Bude was just a furzy down", meaning Stratton was long established when Bude was just gorse-covered downland. (A similar saying is current at Saltash about Plymouth.)Gad - a pick, especially a miner's pick; this kind of pick is a small pointed chisel used with a hammer, e.g. a hammer and gadGawky - stupidGeeking - gapingGeddon - good show / well done (cf. get on!)Girt licker - very large object, as in "That fish you caught is a girt licker"Giss on! - don't talk rubbish!Glance - bounce (describing a ball) (mid and east Cornwall)Gook - bonnetGossan - (in mining) a term for the loose mixture of quartz, iron oxide and other minerals often found on the "back" of a lode; decomposed rockGrammersow - woodlouseGranfer - grandfatherGriglans - heatherGrisly, Grizzly - a grating used to catch and throw out large stones from the sluices (still in use in mining industry worldwide, from Cornish language grysla, meaning 'to grin', 'to show one's teeth')Grushans, Groushans - dregs, especially in bottom of tea cupGuag, Gwag - emptiness, hollow space in a mine (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language gwag, meaning 'empty')Gunnis - an underground excavation left where a lode has been worked out Gurgoe - warren Gwidgee-gwee - a blister, often caused by a misdirected hammer blowHaggel - hawthorn berriesHav - summer (hair+v)Heave - throw (mid Cornwall)Heller - troublesome childHenting - raining hard ("ee's henting out there")Hepping stock - mounting blockHoggan - pastry cakeHoggans - hawsHoling - working, mining (from Cornish language hwel, meaning 'a mine working') used in phrase "holing in guag", meaning mining somewhere that has already been mined.Huer - a lookout on land assisting fishermen by shouted directionsJackteeth / Jawteeth - molars; "jackteeth" is used in the north east, "jawteeth" in the southeast and mid Cornwall, but "grinders" in the west.Jamien - a hero, legend, honourable personJowse - shake or rattleJowster - itinerant seller, e.g. "fish jowster"Kewny - rancidKibbal - iron container used for ore and rock haulage Kiddlywink - unlicensed beer shopKieve - wooden tub, mainly used in mineral processing Killas - (in mining) metamorphic rock strata of sedimentary origin which were altered by heat from the intruded granites in Devon and Cornwall.Knack-kneed - knock-kneedKnockers - spirits that dwell undergroundLarrups - rags, shreds, bitsLaunder - guttering, originally a trough in tin mining (from Cornish language londer)Lawn - a fieldLearn - teach (from Cornish language desky which means both 'to learn' and 'to teach', similar to French apprendre)Linhay - lean-to (of a building)Louster - to work hardLowance out - to set limits financially (from "allowance")Made/matey/Meh'd - mateMaid - girl, girl-friend (see also Bal maiden)Maund - large basketMazed - mad, angryMeader - unknown; used in the 'Poldark' novels apparently of a weakling or runt of a litterMilky-dashel - milk thistleMinching - skiving "minching off school"Mind - rememberMonth - a particular month is referred to with "month" added to its name, e.g. May monthMowhay - barn, hay store, stackyardMurrian, Muryan - (Cornish) ant or more recently a tourist (mainly west Cornwall) (cp. Emmet) (from Cornish language moryon)Mutt - sulkNestle-bird, nestle-drish (East Cornwall) - the weakest pig of a litterNip - narrow path or short steep riseNought but - as in "nought but a child" (east Cornwall)Oggy - pasty (from Cornish language hogen)Ope - an alley (between buildings)Oss - horsePadgypaw, Padgy-pow (West Cornwall) - a newt (from Cornish language pajar paw)Pard - friend ("partner")Party - a young womanPeeth - wellPiggy-whidden (West Cornwall) - the runt of a litter of pigsPig's-crow - pigstyPike - pitchforkPilez - Avena nuda (formerly used as a substitute for oatmeal and for fattening calves)Pilth - small balls found in over-rubbed cottonPisky - pixiePlanching/Planchen - a wooden or planked floorPlatt - market place (e.g. The Platt at Wadebridge)Prong - fork (such as a hay fork, garden fork, &c.) Proper - satisfactory; "proper job"Quilkin - frog (from Cornish language qwilkyn)Quillet - small plot of land (for cultivation)Rab - gravelRedders - (adjective) feeling physically hot, either from the weather or from exertionRight on - an informal way of saying goodbyeRoar - weep loudlyRumped (up) - huddled up, usually from the cold; phrase "rumped up like a winnard"Scat - to hit or break "scat abroad = smashed up" (e.g. "mind and not scat abroad the cloam"); musical beat ('e's two scats behind); "bal scat" is a disused mine (from Cornish language scattra)Scaw - elder treeScreech - to cry loudlyShippen - farm building for livestock. From Middle English schipne, Middle English schepne, schüpene, from Old English scypen (“cow-shed, stall, shippen”), from Proto-Germanic *skupīnō (“stall”), diminutive of *skup- (“shed, barn”). Related to shop.Shram - chill (as in "shrammed as a winnard")Slab - a Cornish rangeSlock - to coax, entice or tempt "slock 'un 'round"Small coal / slack - coal dust; "slack" only in the far south westSmeech - acrid smoke (also used as a verb 'to smeech'), and also used as the verb in west Cornwall for misty rain, as "its smeeching".Some - very, extremely (as in "'e d' look some wisht", "'tis some hot today")Sowpig - woodlouseSpence - larder in house; "crowded = House full, spence full"Splatt - patch of grassSpriggan - spiritSproil - energySquall - to crySquallass, squallyass - crybabyStagged - muddyStank - to walk, also a word for a long walk as in "that was a fair old stank" (from Cornish language stankya)Stargazy (or starry gazy) pie - a pilchard pie with the fish heads uppermostSteen - stoneware potSteeved - frozenStripped up - dressed appropriatelyStroyl - couch grass (from Cornish language stroylek 'messy')Stuggy - broad and sturdy (of a person's build)Swale - to burn (moorland vegetation) to bring on new growthTacker - small child, toddlerTeal - to till, cultivate (e.g. 'tealing teddies')Teasy - bad-tempered (from Cornish language tesek)Teddy / tiddy - potatoThirl - hungryTidden - tender (from "tidn" Cornish language painful)To - at; e.g. ""over to Cury" (at [the parish] of Cury) Also "Where is it?" could be phrased as "Where's he/her to?" and "Where's that" as "Where's that to" (cp. usage in the Bristolian dialect).Tob - a piece of turfTowan - sandhill or dune (from Cornish language tewyn)Towser - a piece of material worn by agricultural workers and tied around the waist to protect the front of trousers, often made from a hessian potato sackTurmut - turnip; or commonly swede (a Cornish pasty is often made of "turmut, 'tates and mate" i.e. swede, potato and meat)Ummin - dirty, filthy. As in 'the bleddy floor is ummin'.Un - him/her (used in place of "it" accusative)Upcountry - a generalised geographical term meaning anywhere which is in England, except for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.Urts - whortleberries, bilberriesUs two / We two - As in 'there are just we two'; "Us two" is used only in north east Cornwall and "we two" in the rest of Cornwall.Vellan - villainVisgy - mattockVor - furrow, as in a planted fieldVug - rock cavityWasson - what's going on?We be - As in 'Oh yes, we be!'; used in most of mid and east Cornwall, whereas "we are" is used in the far west.Wheal - often incorrectly attributed to meaning a mine, but actually means a place of work; the names of most Cornish mines are prefixed with Wheal, such as Wheal Jane, Wheal Butson, etc.Whidden - weakling (of a litter of pigs)Whitneck - weaselWilky (Quilkin) - a frog (from Cornish language qwilkyn)Winnard - redwingWisht - hard-done-by, weak, faint, pale; e.g. "You're looking wisht today"Wo / ho - stop (when calling horses) ("ho" between a line from Crantock to St Austell and a line from Hayle to the Helford River; "way" in the northeast)You, yo - as an emphatic end to a sentence, e.g. "Who's that, you?"; "Drag in the cheeld, you! and don't 'ee lev un go foorth till 'ee 's gone"
Zackley - exactlyZam-zoodled - half cooked or over cookedZart - a sea urchin (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language sort, meaning a sea urchin, or hedgehog)Zawn - a fissure in a cliff (used as a word and also as a place-name element, in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language sawen, or saven, meaning a cleft or gully)Zew - to work alongside a lode, before breaking it down (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language sewen,, meaning prosperous, successful)Zuggans - the essence of anything (in use after the year 1800, from Cornish language sugen,, meaning juice, sap, syrup, essence) 
