Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A fabled creature symbolic of virginity and usually represented as a horse with a single straight spiraled horn projecting from its forehead.
- noun Heraldry A representation of this beast, having a horse's body, a stag's legs, a lion's tail, and a straight spiraled horn growing from its forehead, especially employed as a supporter for the Royal Arms of Great Britain or of Scotland.
- noun The constellation Monoceros.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A traditional or fabulous animal, with a single long horn, the monoceros of classic writers, commonly described as a native of India, but in terms not certainly applicable to any known animal.
- noun A mistranslation in the authorized version of the Bible (Deut. xxxiii. 17, and elsewhere) of the Hebrew word re'ēm.
- noun In heraldry, the representation of the fabulous animal used as a bearing.
- noun The unicorn-fish, unicorn-whale, sea-unicorn, or narwhal, whose enormously long single incisor tooth projects like a horn. See
Monodon , monoceros, 3. - noun The kamichi or horned screamer, Palamedea cornuta; the unicorn-bird. N. Grew. See cut under
Palamedea . - noun A kind of beetle having a single long horn; a unicorn-beetle. Various large beetles literally answer to this definition, being unicornous, with a large single prothoracic horn. See Dynastes, elephant-beetle, Hercules-beetle.
- noun In conchology, a unicorn-shell. See cut under
Monoceros . - noun A pair of horses with a third horse in front; also, the whole equipage.
- noun A Scottish gold coin issued by James III., James IV., and James V., having the figure of a unicorn on the obverse. Its standard weight was 58.89 grains troy, and it was current for 23 shillings Scotch.
- noun [capitalized] In astronomy, the constellation Monoceros.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A fabulous animal with one horn; the monoceros; -- often represented in heraldry as a supporter.
- noun A two-horned animal of some unknown kind, so called in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures.
- noun Any large beetle having a hornlike prominence on the head or prothorax.
- noun The larva of a unicorn moth.
- noun (Zoöl.) The kamichi; -- called also
unicorn bird . - noun (Mil.), obsolete A howitzer.
- noun (Med.) a substance formerly of great repute in medicine; -- named from having been supposed to be the bone or the horn of the unicorn.
- noun (Zoöl.) the narwhal.
- noun (Zoöl.) a notodontian moth (
Cœlodasys unicornis ) whose caterpillar has a prominent horn on its back; -- called alsounicorn prominent . - noun (Bot.) a name of two North American plants, the yellow-flowered colicroot (
Aletris farinosa ) and the blazing star (Chamælirium luteum ). Both are used in medicine. - noun (Zoöl.) 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.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
mythical beast traditionally represented as having the legs of abuck , the body of ahorse , the tail of alion with a singlespiral horn on its head; asymbol ofvirginity . - noun A
heraldic representation of such a beast used as acharge or as asupporter ; as in thearms ofGreat Britain and ofScotland . - noun historical In various Bible translations, used to render the Latin
unicornis orrhinoceros (representing Hebrewרְאֵם ); areem or wild ox.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an imaginary creature represented as a white horse with a long horn growing from its forehead
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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If most myths have at least one toe in the door of truth than the unicorn is absolutely no exception.
Book Review: The Natural History of Unicorns | Fandomania 2010
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Adding consistency and predictability to magic just means a unicorn is a horse with a horn.
Hey! You got Magic in my peanut butter! wendigomountain 2008
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Besides, the other members of the household are pretty easy to beat: Frederick the unicorn is a thinker, not a doer; Snuffles is all claws and teeth, but he's out instantly if you get him in a "sleeper" hold; and Phenny the Phoenix became a pushover after we instituted the "No Spontaneously Combusting Your Opponent" rule.
Archive 2007-07-01 2007
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Besides, the other members of the household are pretty easy to beat: Frederick the unicorn is a thinker, not a doer; Snuffles is all claws and teeth, but he's out instantly if you get him in a "sleeper" hold; and Phenny the Phoenix became a pushover after we instituted the "No Spontaneously Combusting Your Opponent" rule.
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That's what the unicorn is all about, love, kindness, and peace.
Boing Boing: September 25, 2005 - October 1, 2005 Archives 2005
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In the novel, a unicorn is a symbol that has a very different meaning for each character.
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Using the word "unicorn" is so limiting in every way, and the way both of these used it sounded unnatural.
Johnny Hardstaff’s Dark Room and Hi-Sim’s Jun & the Hidden Skies [Parallel Lines] | /Film 2010
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And sadly, this "unicorn" is one of the more tame entries.
Boing Boing 2008
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Apparently this persian unicorn is an actual sailor from the region.
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That fanciful idea of a unicorn is not just magicked into mythology from nowhere.
Archive 2009-02-01 Hal Duncan 2009
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Aileen Lee, famous for coining the expression “unicorn” for the once-rare billion-dollar startup, now runs Cowboy Ventures.
How the Kleiner Perkins Empire Fell Polina Marinova 2021
sionnach commented on the word unicorn
Too swift and fierce to be captured by hunters, the unicorn could only be lured by a virgin seated alone under a tree in the forest.
April 28, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word unicorn
*runs through, looking around for narwhal, does not see*
August 28, 2008
kewpid commented on the word unicorn
November 15, 2008
reesetee commented on the word unicorn
I hate when that happens.
November 16, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word unicorn
Then, according to Lamarck, they evolved into narwhals.
November 16, 2008
kewpid commented on the word unicorn
The cartoon makes me so sad :(
November 16, 2008
bilby commented on the word unicorn
Reminds me of a Tove Jansson scene.
November 16, 2008
bilby commented on the word unicorn
Actually I didn't get the cartoon until, serendipitously, the lolcat article from which VanishedOne has been quoting recently was able to explain it for me.
November 17, 2008
sionnach commented on the word unicorn
In 1979, while on a routine hunting expedition with Sir Geoffrey Huntington in Leeds England, professor Orbax was present when Sir Geoffrey shot this majestic beast. The creature was found in a clearing foraging for mandrake root. Zoologists from the Royal Museum in London were unable to accurately denote the genus of this specimen, as it has several features which defy common classification, yet are all consistent with classical legend of the unicorn. Coincidentally, Sir Geoffrey lost his fortune and estate over the next five years to an alcohol addiction coupled with a gambling problem. Sources close to him say it was as if he lost his spark for life. Unfortunately Sir Geoffrey took his own life, leaving the gorgeous remains of the creature to prof. Orbax in his will.
January 12, 2009
bilby commented on the word unicorn
If anyone else out there comes across a unicorn, please don't shoot it.
January 12, 2009
bilby commented on the word unicorn
"Guildenstern: A man breaking his journey between one place and another at a third place of no name, character, population or significance, sees a unicorn cross his path and disappear. That in itself is startling, but there are precedents for mystical encounters of various kinds, or to be less extreme, a choice of persuasions to put it down to fancy; until - 'My God,' says the second man, 'I must be dreaming, I thought I saw a unicorn.' At which point, a dimension is added that makes the experience as alarming as it will ever be. A third witness, you understand, adds no further dimension but only spreads it thinner, and a fourth thinner still, and the more witnesses there are, the thinner it gets and the more reasonable it becomes until it is as thin as reality, the name we give to the common experience... 'Look, look' recites the crowd. 'A horse with an arrow in its forehead! It must have been mistaken for a deer.'"
- Tom Stoppard, 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead'.
February 14, 2009
alexz commented on the word unicorn
in biking, it's a helmet cam mount which sticks out ahead of the 1 or 2 feet which gives the camera a view of the rider and trail behind.
January 12, 2013
beccadiane12 commented on the word unicorn
Hello My Dear! how are you i am interested to be your good friend can you please send me an mail to my mail box so that i can tell you about me and give you my pic ( beccadd15@yahoo.com )
i will be waiting you in my mailbox ok.
January 13, 2013