WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : U"ni*corn
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [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.]
Definition : 1. A fabulous animal with one horn; the monoceros; -- often represented in heraldry as a supporter.

2. 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. 10.

Note: The unicorn mentioned in the Scripture was probably the urus. See the Note under Reem.

3. (Zo?l.) (a) Any large beetle having a hornlike prominence on the head or prothorax. (b) The larva of a unicorn moth.

4. (Zo?l.)

Defn: The kamichi; -- called also unicorn bird.

5. (Mil.)

Defn: 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 (Zo?l.), the narwhal. -- Unicorn moth (Zo?l.), 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 (Cham?lirium luteum). Both are used in medicine. -- Unicorn shell (Zo?l.), 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.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913