Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A fabled creature symbolic of virginity and usually represented as a horse with a single straight spiraled horn projecting from its forehead.
- n. 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.
- n. Astronomy The constellation Monoceros.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. 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. It is supposed that one of the several large antelopes may have furnished the basis of fact of accounts, since the long straight or recurved horns viewed in profile would appear single. See def. 3.
- n. A mistranslation in the authorized version of the Bible (Deut. xxxiii. 17, and elsewhere) of the Hebrew word re'ēm. This named a two-horned animal, which has been supposed to be the urns. In the revised version the word is translated wild-ox.
- n. In heraldry, the representation of the fabulous animal used as a bearing. It is delineated as a horse, but with the tail of a lion and a long straight horn growing out of the forehead between the ears; often the hoofs are represented as cloven. The actual animal most like this bearing is the gnu.
- n. The unicorn-fish, unicorn-whale, sea-unicorn, or narwhal, whose enormously long single incisor tooth projects like a horn. See Monodon, monoceros, 3.
- n. The kamichi or horned screamer, Palamedea cornuta; the unicorn-bird. N. Grew. See cut under Palamedea.
- n. 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.
- n. In conchology, a unicorn-shell. See cut under Monoceros.
- n. A pair of horses with a third horse in front; also, the whole equipage.
- n. 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.
- n. [capitalized] In astronomy, the constellation Monoceros.
Wiktionary
- n. A mythical beast traditionally represented as having the legs of a buck, the body of a horse, the tail of a lion with a single spiral horn on its head; a symbol of virginity.
- n. A heraldic representation of such a beast used as a charge or as a supporter; as in the arms of Great Britain and of Scotland.
- n. historical In various Bible translations, used to render the Latin unicornis or rhinoceros (representing Hebrew רְאֵם); a reem or wild ox.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A fabulous animal with one horn; the monoceros; -- often represented in heraldry as a supporter.
- n. A two-horned animal of some unknown kind, so called in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures.
- n. Any large beetle having a hornlike prominence on the head or prothorax.
- n. The larva of a unicorn moth.
- n. (Zoöl.) The kamichi; -- called also
unicorn bird . - n. (Mil.), obsolete A howitzer.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an imaginary creature represented as a white horse with a long horn growing from its forehead
Etymologies
- Middle English unicorne, from Old French, from Late Latin ūnicornis, from Latin, having one horn : ūnus, one; + cornū, horn. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“If most myths have at least one toe in the door of truth than the unicorn is absolutely no exception.”
“Adding consistency and predictability to magic just means a unicorn is a horse with a horn.”
“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.”
“That's what the unicorn is all about, love, kindness, and peace.”
“In the novel, a unicorn is a symbol that has a very different meaning for each character.”
“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
“And sadly, this "unicorn" is one of the more tame entries.”
“Apparently this persian unicorn is an actual sailor from the region.”
“That fanciful idea of a unicorn is not just magicked into mythology from nowhere.”
“But of course the unicorn is WHITE and therefore racist in nature.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘unicorn’.
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Visuals
A list of words which yield surprising, beautiful, amusing, or otherwise noteworthy images here on Wordnik.
photochrom, fufluns, thank you, cool l..., postcard, picture postcard, cricket, physiological ill..., Gakuryū Ishii, ametropia, One Froggy Evening, rhodopsin, Santiago Calatrava and 636 more...
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MYTH - spooky creatures
carrion-eater, solar bird, giant boar, black dog, guardian, fire giant, marsh nymph, fish pike, undead, skeleton, horned snake, pegasus and 607 more...
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Genes
Interesting gene names. Some of these may have changed recently (to something less offensive/funny).
http://www.genenames.org/
tinman, agnostic, dreadlocks, Van Gogh, fruitless, lava lamp, ariadne, cheap date, ken and barbie, I'm not dead yet, I'm not dead yet 2, manic fringe and 1192 more... -
Mythical Beings
mermaid, manticore, fairy, brownie, dwarf, elf, leprechaun, selkie, gremlin, puck, pixie, genie and 97 more...
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Mountain Biking
Words that relate to bicycling or mountain biking
crank, podium, attack position, bonk, rock garden, babyheads, bunny hop, chain, chainring, clipless, freeride, slicks and 204 more...
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Phantasmas
Ouroboros, chimera, incubus, cerberus, hippogriff, leviathan, centaur, Jabberwock, numen, snark, sphinx, hippocamp and 26 more...
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Virgins
All and any to do with those precious hymenated...
sacrifice, altar, white, cherry, lily, pure, angelic, innocent, vestal, unicorn, undefiled, pristine and 8 more...
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A Selective Mediæval Bestiary
Beginning with my favourites from this site.
alerion, ant-lion, bear, bonnacon, cinnamologus, hedgehog, weasel, basilisk, asp, oliphant, minotaur, gryphon and 8 more...
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Mythical Word List
All words with mythical connotations.
nymph, pixie, elf, elves, wizard, faerie, minotaur, unicorn, wand, witch, sprite, faun and 5 more...
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fairytale words
any words which evoke a sense of childplay and fairytales!
unicorn, penchant, whimsy, folly, dastardly, pixie, sylph, kelpie, petticoat, elfin, fey, dandelion
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Recently Loved Words
Valentine's Day is coming up, so here's a list of words that have been "loved" here on Wordnik (our favorite site with a heart as part of its logo).
howl, lichenous, uncomplicated, siliceous, clatter, hubris, dervish, articulated, acerbic, Recently Loved Words, mellifluous, anomaly and 45 more...
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the dictionary of fantasy creatures
non-humanoids only. #wordnikAtoZ
unicorn, kirin, cerapter, pegasus, gryphon, hippogriff, basilisk, dragon, wyrm, phoenix, roc, hippocampus and 5 more...
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here, horsey!
horse-related words (sometimes several times removed from actual equines)
horse, donkey, mule, hinny, gelding, stallion, mare, hobby horse, clotheshorse, sawhorse, horseradish, equine and 28 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and ...
Words that, as I see it, have some fond connection to the Alice stories through their creation or particular use by Lewis Carroll. I mean to tie them all together with contexty comments!
alice, daisy-chain, white rabbit, waistcoat-pocket, rabbit-hole, marmalade, antipathy, antipode, curtsey, dinah, tea-time, rat-hole and 232 more...
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JesusIsLord's Words
debauchery, plethora, wiki, numinous, wormwood, scribe, gelded, mithridate, orthogonal, jaculiferous, jaculate, jactitation and 415 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for unicorn.

alexz 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.
Jan 12, 2013
bilby "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'.
Feb 14, 2009
bilby If anyone else out there comes across a unicorn, please don't shoot it. Jan 12, 2009
sionnach
http://www.fiendishcuriosities.com/photos/photo_curiosity_30.jpg">
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. Jan 12, 2009
bilby 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. Nov 17, 2008
bilby Reminds me of a Tove Jansson scene. Nov 16, 2008
kewpid The cartoon makes me so sad :( Nov 15, 2008
Prolagus Then, according to Lamarck, they evolved into narwhals. Nov 15, 2008
reesetee I hate when that happens. Nov 15, 2008
kewpid
Nov 15, 2008
chained_bear *runs through, looking around for narwhal, does not see* Aug 27, 2008
sionnach 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. Apr 28, 2008