unicorn

CEFRA1

/ˈjuː.nɪ.kɔːn/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A mythical white horse with one horn on its forehead.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Certain animals:, Any large beetle having a horn-like prominence on the head or prothorax, especially the Hercules beetle, Dynastes tityus.

Examples

  • Manny wants to be a unicorn so girls will ride him.

  • The English love the unicorn as much as they love the lion.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. In various Bible translations, used to render the Latin unicornis or rhinoceros (representing Hebrew רְאֵם): a reem or wild ox.

  2. A mythical horse, widely believed to exist until the 17th century, with a single, straight, spiraled horn projecting from its forehead.

  3. A mythical horse-like creature with a horn on its forehead.

More examples

In context

  • The unicorn is a fabulous monster.

  • unicorn smoothies

  • The unicorn who may be touched and tamed only by a chaste virgin is a lunar symbol of the ancient religion of Europe.

Synonyms

Quick test

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Question 1 · Quick check

In the story, a magical horse with a horn on its head is called a blank.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English unicorne, unikorn, from Anglo-Norman unicorne, Old French unicorne, and their source, Latin ūnicornis, from ūnus (“one”) + cornū (“horn”). Displaced native Old English ānhorn, itself a calque. Other senses from either rarity (e.g., possessing multiple skills) or by physical resemblance to having a horn (e.g., howitzer). The finance sense was coined by American investor Aileen Lee and first used in a 2013 article.