What does "unicorn" mean?
Unicorn: A two-horned animal of some unknown kind, so called in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures. Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow Job xxxix.
Additional senses
- 2.Note: The unicorn mentioned in the Scripture was probably the urus. See the Note under Reem.
- 3.(Zoöl.) (a) Any large beetle having a hornlike prominence on the head or prothorax. (b) The larva of a unicorn moth.
- 4.(Zoöl.) The kamichi; -- called also unicorn bird.
- 5.(Mil.) A howitzer. [Obs.] 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 (Zoöl.), the narwhal. -- Unicorn moth (Zoöl.), 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 (Chamælirium luteum). Both are used in medicine. -- Unicorn shell (Zoöl.), 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.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00