unicorn

UK: /ˈjuːnikɔː^rn/ US: /ˈjunɪˌkɔrn/ ,(yo̅o̅′ni kôrn′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

u•ni•corn /ˈyunɪˌkɔrn/   n. [countable]

1. Mythology an imaginary creature resembling a horse, with a single horn in the center of its forehead.

See -uni-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

u•ni•corn  (yo̅o̅′ni kôrn′), n. 

1. Mythology a mythical creature resembling a horse, with a single horn in the center of its forehead: often symbolic of chastity or purity.
2. Heraldry a heraldic representation of this animal, in the form of a horse with a lion's tail and with a long, straight, and spirally twisted horn.
3. Astronomy (cap.) the constellation Monoceros.
4. Bible an animal mentioned in the Bible, Deut. 33:17: now believed by some to be a description of a wild ox or rhinoceros.
5. Currency a former gold coin of Scotland, first issued by James III in 1486, having an obverse bearing the figure of a unicorn.

• Latin ūnicornis one-horned, equivalent. to uni- uni- + corn(ū) horn + -is adjective, adjectival suffix
• Old French)
• Middle English unicorne (1175–1225

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

unicorn / ˈjuːnɪˌkɔːn/ noun

1. an imaginary creature depicted as a white horse with one long spiralled horn growing from its forehead, regarded as symbol of innocence and purity
2. a two-horned animal, thought to be either the rhinoceros or the aurochs (Deuteronomy 33:17): mistranslation in the Authorized Version of the original Hebrew
3. a recently launched business enterprise that is valued at more than one billion dollars

Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French unicorne, from Latin ūnicornis one-horned, from ūnus one + cornu a horn