Cockatrice

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Cockatrice \Cock"a*trice\ (-tr[imac]s; 277), n. [OF. cocatrice
     crocodile, F. cocatrix, cocatrice. The word is a corruption
     from the same source as E. crocodile, but was confused with
     cock the bird, F. coq, whence arose the fable that the animal
     was produced from a cock's egg. See {Crocodile}.]
     [1913 Webster]


     1. A fabulous serpent whose breath and look were said to be
        fatal. See {Basilisk}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              That bare vowel, I, shall poison more
              Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Her.) A representation of this serpent. It has the head,
        wings, and legs of a bird, and tail of a serpent.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Script.) A venomous serpent which which cannot now be
        identified.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The weaned child shall put his hand on the
              cockatrice's
  
     Note: [Rev. Ver. basilisk's] den.              --Is. xi. 8.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Any venomous or deadly thing.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              This little cockatrice of a king.     --Bacon.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  cockatrice
       n : monster hatched by a reptile from a cock's egg; able to kill
           with a glance

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  130 Moby Thesaurus words for "cockatrice":
     Benedict Arnold, Brutus, Judas, Judas Iscariot, Quisling,
     achievement, alerion, animal charge, annulet, archtraitor, argent,
     armorial bearings, armory, arms, azure, bandeau, bar, bar sinister,
     baton, bearings, bend, bend sinister, betrayer, billet, blazon,
     blazonry, bordure, broad arrow, cadency mark, canton, chaplet,
     charge, chevron, chief, coat of arms, conniver, conspirator,
     conspirer, coronet, crescent, crest, cross, cross moline, crown,
     device, difference, differencing, double agent, double-crosser,
     double-dealer, eagle, ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois,
     escutcheon, falcon, fess, fess point, field, file, flanch,
     fleur-de-lis, fret, fur, fusil, garland, griffin, gules, gyron,
     hatchment, helmet, heraldic device, honor point, impalement,
     impaling, inescutcheon, informer, intrigant, intriguer, label,
     lion, lozenge, machinator, mantling, marshaling, martlet, mascle,
     metal, motto, mullet, nombril point, octofoil, or, ordinary, orle,
     pale, paly, pean, pheon, plotter, purpure, quarter, quartering,
     quisling, rat, rose, sable, saltire, schemer, scutcheon, serpent,
     shield, snake, spread eagle, subordinary, tenne, timeserver,
     tincture, torse, traitor, treasonist, tressure, trimmer, turncoat,
     unicorn, vair, vert, wreath, yale
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Cockatrice
     the mediaeval name (a corruption of "crocodile") of a fabulous
     serpent supposed to be produced from a cock's egg. It is
     generally supposed to denote the cerastes, or "horned viper," a
     very poisonous serpent about a foot long. Others think it to be
     the yellow viper (Daboia xanthina), one of the most dangerous
     vipers, from its size and its nocturnal habits (Isa. 11:8;
     14:29; 59:5; Jer. 8:17; in all which the Revised Version renders
     the Hebrew _tziph'oni_ by "basilisk"). In Prov. 23:32 the Hebrew
     _tzeph'a_ is rendered both in the Authorized Version and the
     Revised Version by "adder;" margin of Revised Version
     "basilisk," and of Authorized Version "cockatrice."