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Webster 1913 Edition

Unicorn

U′ni-corn

,
Noun.
[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.
☞ The unicorn mentioned in the Scripture was probably the urus. See the Note under
Reem
.
3.
(Zool.)
(a)
Any large beetle having a hornlike prominence on the head or prothorax.
(b)
The larva of a unicorn moth.
4.
(Zool.)
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
(Zool.)
,
the narwhal.
–
Unicorn moth
(Zool.)
,
a notodontian moth (
Coelodasys 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 (
Chamaelirium luteum
). Both are used in medicine.
–
Unicorn shell
(Zool.)
,
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
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Unicorn

U'NICORN

,
Noun.
[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.

Definition 2024

unicorn

unicorn

English

Noun

unicorn ‎(plural unicorns)

  1. (Discuss(+) this sense) A mythical beast resembling a horse with a single, straight, spiraled horn projecting from its forehead.
  2. A heraldic representation of such a beast used as a charge or as a supporter; as in the arms of Great Britain and of Scotland.
  3. (historical) In various Bible translations, used to render the Latin unicornis or rhinoceros (representing Hebrew רְאֵם); a reem or wild ox.
    • 1611, Bible (KJV), Numbers 24:8:
      God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.
  4. Any large beetle having a horn-like prominence on the head or prothorax, especially the Hercules beetle, Dynastes tityus.
  5. The larva of a unicorn moth.
  6. The kamichi, or unicorn bird.
  7. (military) A howitzer.
  8. (sexual slang) a single, usually bisexual woman who participates in swinging and/or polyamory.
  9. (finance) A startup company whose valuation has exceeded one billion U.S. dollars, is solely backed by venture capitalists, and which has yet to have an IPO.
  10. (business) A person with multidisciplinary expertise (due to rarity and value), especially three or more skills in a young field such as UX design or data science (e.g., domain knowledge, statistics, and software engineering).
    • 2011 November 1, Braden Kowitz, “Hiring a designer: hunting the unicorn”, in Google Ventures:
      But I also think, “They’re looking for a unicorn — a magical designer who can solve all their problems.” It’s too bad unicorns don’t exist. … I have never met a designer who is an expert in all those skill areas. … Even if you find a unicorn designer with all those skills, actually doing all those things at your company is a huge amount of work.
    • 2015 October 3, Gil Press, “These Are The Skills You Need To (Eventually) Become A $240,000+ Unicorn Data Scientist”, in Forbes:
      He believes that good data scientists, “otherwise known as unicorn data scientists,” have three types of expertise.

Hyponyms

Meronyms

Holonyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Etymology

Unicorn with a maiden, fresco in Palazzo Farnese, Rome, probably by Domenichino, ca 1602 (1)

From Anglo-Norman unicorne, Old French unicorne, and their source, Latin ūnicornis, from unus ‎(“one”) + cornu ‎(“horn”). Other senses from either rarity (e.g., possessing multiple skills) or by physical resemblance to having a horn (e.g., howitzer).

Pronunciation

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