Adjacent Words

Unicorn definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

U'NICORN, n. [L. unicornis; unus, one, and cornu, horn.]
1. an animal with one horn; the monoceros. this name is often applied to the rhinoceros.
2. The sea unicorn is a fish of the whale kind, called narwal, remarkable for a horn growing out at his nose.
3. A fowl.
fossil unicorn, or fossil unicorn's horn, a substance used in medicine, a terrene crustaceous spar.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an imaginary creature represented as a white horse with a long horn growing from its forehead

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English unicorne, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin unicornis, from Latin, having one horn, from uni- + cornu horn — more at horn Date: 13th century a mythical animal generally depicted with the body and head of a horse, the hind legs of a stag, the tail of a lion, and a single horn in the middle of the forehead

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a a fabulous animal with a horse's body and a single straight horn. b a heraldic representation of this, with a twisted horn, a deer's feet, a goat's beard, and a lion's tail. c used in old translations of the Old Testament for the Hebrew re'em, a two-horned animal, probably a wild ox. 2 a a pair of horses and a third horse in front. b an equipage with these. 3 (in full unicorn whale or sea-unicorn) the narwhal. Etymology: ME f. OF unicorne f. L unicornis f. UNI- + cornu horn, transl. Gk monoceros

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Unicorn U"ni*corn, n. [OE. unicorne, F. unicorne, L. unicornis one-horned, having a single horn; unus one + cornu a horn; cf. L. unicornuus a unicorn. See One, and Horn.] 1. A fabulous animal with one horn; the monoceros; -- often represented in heraldry as a supporter. 2. A two-horned animal of some unknown kind, so called in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures. Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? --Job xxxix. 10. Note: The unicorn mentioned in the Scripture was probably the urus. See the Note under Reem. 3. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Any large beetle having a hornlike prominence on the head or prothorax. (b) The larva of a unicorn moth. 4. (Zo["o]l.) The kamichi; -- called also unicorn bird. 5. (Mil.) A howitzer. [Obs.] Fossil unicorn, or Fossil unicorn's horn (Med.), a substance formerly of great repute in medicine; -- named from having been supposed to be the bone or the horn of the unicorn. Unicorn fish, Unicorn whale (Zo["o]l.), the narwhal. Unicorn moth (Zo["o]l.), a notodontian moth (C[oe]lodasys unicornis) whose caterpillar has a prominent horn on its back; -- called also unicorn prominent. Unicorn root (Bot.), a name of two North American plants, the yellow-flowered colicroot (Aletris farinosa) and the blazing star (Cham[ae]lirium luteum). Both are used in medicine. Unicorn shell (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of marine gastropods having a prominent spine on the lip of the shell. Most of them belong to the genera Monoceros and Leucozonia.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(unicorns) In stories and legends, a unicorn is an imaginary animal that looks like a white horse and has a horn growing from its forehead. N-COUNT

Easton's Bible Dictionary

described as an animal of great ferocity and strength (Num. 23:22, R.V., "wild ox," marg., "ox-antelope;" 24:8; Isa. 34:7, R.V., "wild oxen"), and untamable (Job 39:9). It was in reality a two-horned animal; but the exact reference of the word so rendered (reem) is doubtful. Some have supposed it to be the buffalo; others, the white antelope, called by the Arabs rim. Most probably, however, the word denotes the Bos primigenius ("primitive ox"), which is now extinct all over the world. This was the auerochs of the Germans, and the urus described by Caesar (Gal. Bel., vi.28) as inhabiting the Hercynian forest. The word thus rendered has been found in an Assyrian inscription written over the wild ox or bison, which some also suppose to be the animal intended (comp. Deut. 33:17; Ps. 22:21; 29:6; 92:10).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

u'-ni-korn (re'em (Nu 23:22; 24:8; De 33:17; Job 39:9,10; Ps 22:21; 29:6; 92:10; Isa 34:7)): "Unicorn" occurs in the King James Version in the passages cited, where the Revised Version (British and American) has "wild-ox" (which see).

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A coach drawn by three horses.

Moby Thesaurus

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