Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Popular Searches
on Ask.com
Nearby Entries
cockatrices - 2 dictionary results

cock⋅a⋅trice

  [kok-uh-tris]
Use cockatrices in a Sentence
–noun
1. a legendary monster with a deadly glance, supposedly hatched by a serpent from the egg of a cock, and commonly represented with the head, legs, and wings of a cock and the body and tail of a serpent. Compare basilisk (def. 1).
2. a venomous serpent. Isa. 11:8.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME cocatrice < MF cocatris < ML caucātrīces (pl.), L *calcātrīx (see -trix ), fem. of *calcātor tracker, equiv. to calcā(re) to tread, v. deriv. of calx heel + -tor -tor; rendering Gk ichneúmon ichneumon
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To cockatrices
cock·a·trice   (kŏk'ə-trĭs, -trīs')   
n.   Mythology
A serpent hatched from a cock's egg and having the power to kill by its glance.

[Middle English cocatrice, basilisk, from Old French cocatris, from Medieval Latin cocātrīx, cocātrīc-, possibly alteration of calcātrīx (translation of Greek ikhneumōn, tracker), from Latin calcāre, to track, from calx, calc-, heel.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see cockatrices on Thesaurus | Reference
>