adj
Meaning 1
Having one horn.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
unicorn
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˈjuː.nɪ.kɔːn/
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US: /ˈju.nɪ.kɔɹn/
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Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: Y UW1 N IH0 K AO2 R N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Rare and hard to find.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A mythical horse-like creature with a horn on its forehead.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, mysticism, mythology, philosophy, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: monoceros
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
In various Bible translations, used to render the Latin unicornis or rhinoceros (representing Hebrew רְאֵם): a reem or wild ox.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biblical, lifestyle, religion
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
Certain animals:
Any large beetle having a horn-like prominence on the head or prothorax, especially the Hercules beetle, Dynastes tityus.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
Certain animals:
A caterpillar, Schizura unicornis, with a large thorn-like spine on the back near its head.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
Certain animals:
The kamichi, or unicorn bird.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
Certain animals:
A Siberian unicorn, †Elasmotherium sibiricum.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
Certain animals:
An Asian unicorn, or saola, Pseudoryx nghetinhensis.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
A howitzer.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: government, military, politics, war
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 11
Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: black swan, hen's tooth, lightning in a bottle, one in a million, rara avis, rare bird, rarity, rocking horse shit, unicorn
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 12
Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
A single, usually bisexual woman who participates in swinging or polyamory.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: black swan, hen's tooth, lightning in a bottle, one in a million, rara avis, rare bird, rarity, rocking horse shit, unicorn
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 13
Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
A person with multidisciplinary expertise, especially a laundry list of three or more skills in a young field such as UX design or data science (e.g., domain knowledge, statistics, and software engineering).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: business
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: black swan, hen's tooth, lightning in a bottle, one in a million, rara avis, rare bird, rarity, rocking horse shit, unicorn, purple squirrel
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 14
Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
A startup company whose valuation has exceeded one billion U.S. dollars, which is solely backed by venture capitalists, and which has yet to have an IPO.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: business, finance
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: black swan, hen's tooth, lightning in a bottle, one in a million, rara avis, rare bird, rarity, rocking horse shit, unicorn
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 15
Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
A fan with serious aspirations to become romantically involved with a VTuber (i.e., the streamer behind the avatar).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: VTuber fandom slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: black swan, hen's tooth, lightning in a bottle, one in a million, rara avis, rare bird, rarity, rocking horse shit, unicorn
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 16
Being many (especially pastel) colours; multicoloured.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: attributive
Examples
- unicorn smoothies
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 17
A 15th-century Scottish gold coin worth 18 shillings, bearing the image of a unicorn.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 18
To participate in a sexual threesome as a bisexual addition to an established heterosexual couple.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 19
To exceed a valuation of one billion U.S. dollars, while solely backed by venture capitalists.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: business, finance
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 20
an imaginary creature represented as a white horse with a long horn growing from its forehead
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: imaginary being, imaginary creature
History
Etymology
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.
Across languages
Translations
117 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Afrikaans: eenhoring — mythical beast
- Albanian: briqen — mythical beast
- Albanian: njëbrirësh — mythical beast
- Arabic: أُحَادِيُّ القَرْن (ʔuḥādiyyu l-qarn) — mythical beast
- Arabic: حَرِيش (ḥarīš) — mythical beast
- Arabic: يُونِيكُورْن (yūnīkūrn) — mythical beast
- Armenian: միեղջյուր (mieġǰyur) — mythical beast
- Asturian: unicorniu — mythical beast
- Azerbaijani: təkbuynuz — mythical beast
- Bashkir: һыңармөгөҙ (hıñarmögöź) — mythical beast
- Basque: adarbakar — mythical beast
- Belarusian: аднаро́г (adnaróh) — mythical beast
- Breton: unkorneg — mythical beast
- Bulgarian: иноро́г (inoróg) — mythical beast
- Bulgarian: едноро́г (ednoróg) — mythical beast
- Catalan: unicorn — mythical beast
- Cherokee: ᏐᏈᎵ ᎤᏟᎩ (soquili utligi) — mythical beast
- Chinese Mandarin: 獨角獸 /独角兽 (dújiǎoshòu) — mythical beast
- Czech: jednorožec — mythical beast
- Danish: enhjørning — mythical beast
- Dutch: eenhoorn — mythical beast
- Esperanto: unukornulo — mythical beast
- Estonian: ükssarvik — mythical beast
- Faroese: einhyrningur — mythical beast
- Finnish: yksisarvinen — mythical beast
- French: licorne — mythical beast
- West-Frisian: ienhoarn — mythical beast
- Galician: unicornio — mythical beast
- Georgian: მარტორქა (marṭorka) — mythical beast
- German: Einhorn — mythical beast
- Greek: μονόκερως (monókeros) — mythical beast
- Ancient Greek: μονόκερως (monókerōs) — mythical beast
- Greenlandic: enhjørningi — mythical beast
- Greenlandic: tuugaalik — mythical beast
- Hebrew: חַד־קֶרֶן (chad-qeren) — mythical beast
- Hindi: इकसिंगा (iksiṅgā) — mythical beast
- Hungarian: unikornis — mythical beast
- Hungarian: egyszarvú — mythical beast
- Icelandic: einhyrningur — mythical beast
- Ido: unikorno — mythical beast
- Indonesian: unikorn — mythical beast
- Indonesian: kuda bertanduk — mythical beast
- Irish: aonbheannach — mythical beast
- Italian: unicorno — mythical beast
- Italian: liocorno — mythical beast
- Japanese: 麒麟 (kirin) — mythical beast
- Japanese: 一角獣 (ikkakujū) — mythical beast
- Japanese: ユニコーン (yunikōn) — mythical beast
- Japanese: 一角馬 (ikkakuba) — mythical beast
- Javanese: unikorn — mythical beast
- Kazakh: жалғыз мүйіз (jalğyz müiız) — mythical beast
- Khmer: សេះស្នែងមួយ (sehsnaengmuəy) — mythical beast
- Korean: 유니콘 (yunikon) — mythical beast
- Korean: 일각수 (ilgaksu) — mythical beast
- Latin: ūnicornis — mythical beast
- Latvian: vienradzis — mythical beast
- Lithuanian: vienaragis — mythical beast
- Luxembourgish: Eenhar — mythical beast
- Macedonian: е́днорог (édnorog) — mythical beast
- Malay: kuda sumbu — mythical beast
- Malay: rusa senggerek — mythical beast
- Malay: unikorn — mythical beast
- Maltese: unikorn — mythical beast
- Manchu: ᡠᡳᡥᡝᡵᡳᠨ (uiherin) — mythical beast
- Manx: un-eairkagh — mythical beast
- Māori: unikanga — mythical beast
- Marathi: युनिकॉर्न (yunikŏrna) — mythical beast
- Eastern Mari: иктӱкан (iktükan) — mythical beast
- Middle English: unicorne — mythical beast
- Navajo: łį́į́ʼ bideeʼłáaʼii — mythical beast
- Norwegian Bokmål: enhjørning — mythical beast
- Norwegian Nynorsk: einhyrning — mythical beast
- Ojibwe: ningodeshkani — mythical beast
- Old English: ānhorn — mythical beast
- Persian: تکشاخ (tek shâkh) — mythical beast
- Polish: jednorożec — mythical beast
- Portuguese: unicórnio — mythical beast
- Portuguese: licorne — mythical beast
- Romanian: unicorn — mythical beast
- Romanian: licorn — mythical beast
- Romanian: inorog — mythical beast
- Romansh: unicorn — mythical beast
- Russian: единоро́г (jedinoróg) — mythical beast
- Scots: unicorn — mythical beast
- Scottish Gaelic: aon-adharcach — mythical beast
- Scottish Gaelic: sròin-adharcach — mythical beast
- Scottish Gaelic: biast-na-sgrogaig — mythical beast
- Serbo-Croatian: је̏днорог — mythical beast
- Serbo-Croatian: jȅdnorog — mythical beast
- Slovak: jednorožec — mythical beast
- Slovene: samorog — mythical beast
- Slovene: enorog — mythical beast
- Upper Sorbian: jednorohač — mythical beast
- Spanish: unicornio — mythical beast
- Swahili: farasi-pembemoja — mythical beast
- Swedish: enhörning — mythical beast
- Tagalog: unikornyo — mythical beast
- Tamil: கொம்புக் குதிரை (kompuk kutirai) — mythical beast
- Tatar: бермөгез (bermögez) — mythical beast
- Thai: ยูนิคอร์น (yuu-ní-kɔɔn) — mythical beast
- Turkish: tek boynuzlu at — mythical beast
- Turkish: tekboynuz — mythical beast
- Turkish: kilin — mythical beast
- Ukrainian: єдинорі́г (jedynoríh) — mythical beast
- Urdu: ارنا گھوڑا — mythical beast
- Uzbek: bir jinsli — mythical beast
- Vietnamese: kì lân — mythical beast
- Volapük: balhon — mythical beast
- Volapük: bahon — mythical beast
- Walloon: licoine — mythical beast
- Welsh: uncorn — mythical beast
- Yiddish: איינהאָרן (eynhorn) — mythical beast
- Chinese Mandarin: 獨角獸企業 /独角兽企业 — startup company
- Chinese Mandarin: 獨角獸 /独角兽 (dújiǎoshòu) — startup company
- French: licorne — startup company
- Spanish: unicornio — startup company
- Zhuang: giyez nyaengaeudog — startup company
Real reading context