Unicorn

4 definitions found

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

  Unicorn \U"ni*corn\, n. [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.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. A two-horned animal of some unknown kind, so called in the
        Authorized Version of the Scriptures.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the
              furrow?                               --Job xxxix.
                                                    10.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The unicorn mentioned in the Scripture was probably the
           urus. See the Note under {Reem}.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Zool.)
        (a) Any large beetle having a hornlike prominence on the
            head or prothorax.
        (b) The larva of a unicorn moth.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Zool.) The kamichi; -- called also {unicorn bird}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. (Mil.) A howitzer. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {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}.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  unicorn
       n : an imaginary creature represented as a white horse with a
           long horn growing from its forehead

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

  154 Moby Thesaurus words for "unicorn":
     Argus, Briareus, Cerberus, Charybdis, Cyclops, Echidna, Gorgon,
     Harpy, Hydra, Loch Ness monster, Medusa, Minotaur, Pegasus, Python,
     Scylla, Sphinx, Talos, Typhon, achievement, alerion, animal charge,
     annulet, argent, armorial bearings, armory, arms, azure, bandeau,
     bar, bar sinister, baton, bearings, bend, bend sinister, billet,
     blazon, blazonry, bordure, broad arrow, cadency mark, canton,
     centaur, chaplet, charge, chevron, chief, chimera, coat of arms,
     cockatrice, coronet, crescent, crest, cross, cross moline, crown,
     device, difference, differencing, dragon, drake, eagle, equipage,
     ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois, escutcheon, falcon, fess,
     fess point, field, file, flanch, fleur-de-lis, four-in-hand, fret,
     fur, fusil, garland, griffin, gules, gyron, hatchment, helmet,
     heraldic device, hippocampus, honor point, impalement, impaling,
     inescutcheon, label, lion, lozenge, mantling, marshaling, martlet,
     mascle, mermaid, merman, metal, motto, mullet, nixie,
     nombril point, octofoil, ogre, ogress, or, ordinary, orle, pair,
     pale, paly, pean, pheon, purpure, quarter, quartering, randem, rig,
     roc, rose, sable, salamander, saltire, satyr, scutcheon, sea horse,
     sea serpent, shield, siren, span, spike, spike team, spread eagle,
     subordinary, tandem, team, tenne, three-up, tincture, torse,
     tressure, troll, turnout, vair, vampire, vert, werewolf, windigo,
     wreath, xiphopagus, yale, zombie
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Unicorn
     described as an animal of great ferocity and strength (Num.
     23:22, R.V., "wild ox," marg., "ox-antelope;" 24:8; Isa. 34:7,
     R.V., "wild oxen"), and untamable (Job 39:9). It was in reality
     a two-horned animal; but the exact reference of the word so
     rendered (reem) is doubtful. Some have supposed it to be the
     buffalo; others, the white antelope, called by the Arabs rim.
     Most probably, however, the word denotes the Bos primigenius
     ("primitive ox"), which is now extinct all over the world. This
     was the auerochs of the Germans, and the urus described by
     Caesar (Gal. Bel., vi.28) as inhabiting the Hercynian forest.
     The word thus rendered has been found in an Assyrian inscription
     written over the wild ox or bison, which some also suppose to be
     the animal intended (comp. Deut. 33:17; Ps. 22:21; 29:6; 92:10).