Brewer's: Cornette

Porter la cornette. To be domineered over by the woman of the house; to be a Jerry Sneak. The cornette is the mob-cap anciently worn by the women of France. Porter les culottes (to wear the breeches) is the same idea; only it shows who has the mastery, and not who is mastered. In the latter case it means the woman wears the dress of the man, and assumes his position in the house. Probably our expression about “wearing the horns” may be referred to the “cornette” rather than to the stag or deer.

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