cornucopiae

Cornucopiae refers to cornucopia, a horn-shaped container overflowing with produce. The term is Latin: cornū (horn) + cōpia (abundance). The plural form cornucopiae is used in scholarly writing, while cornucopias is common in everyday English.

In mythology, the cornucopia originates with Amalthea, the goat who nursed the infant Zeus. In some legends the horn was broken from this divine goat and transformed into a horn of plenty that could provide endless nourishment. The symbol came to represent abundance in Greek and Roman art and religion, associated with gods of plenty such as Fortuna or Abundantia.

In imagery, the cornucopia is depicted as a curved horn or horn-shaped vessel spilling fruits, grains, flowers, and nuts. It is widely used in art, sculpture, heraldry, and decorative motifs to signify nourishment, prosperity, and harvest.

Today, cornucopiae remain a common decorative motif in harvest and Thanksgiving imagery and in heraldic and institutional insignia, where they signal abundance and generosity.