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unicorns - 2 dictionary results

u⋅ni⋅corn

  [yoo-ni-kawrn]
Use unicorns in a Sentence
–noun
1. a mythical creature resembling a horse, with a single horn in the center of its forehead: often symbolic of chastity or purity.
2. a heraldic representation of this animal, in the form of a horse with a lion's tail and with a long, straight, and spirally twisted horn.
3. (initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Monoceros.
4. an animal mentioned in the Bible, Deut. 33:17: now believed by some to be a description of a wild ox or rhinoceros.
5. a former gold coin of Scotland, first issued by James III in 1486, having an obverse bearing the figure of a unicorn.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME unicorne (< OF) < L ūnicornis one-horned, equiv. to uni- uni- + corn(ū) horn + -is adj. suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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u·ni·corn   (yōō'nĭ-kôrn')   
n.  
    1. A fabled creature symbolic of virginity and usually represented as a horse with a single straight spiraled horn projecting from its forehead.
    2. 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.
  2. Unicorn Astronomy The constellation Monoceros.

[Middle English unicorne, from Old French, from Late Latin ūnicornis, from Latin, having one horn : ūnus, one; see oi-no- in Indo-European roots + cornū, horn; see ker-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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