Dictionary

unicorn en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈju.nɪ.kɔɹn/ (US)
• /ˈjuː.nɪ.kɔːn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From Middle English unicorne, unikorn, from Anglo-Norman unicorne, Old French unicorne, and their source, Latin ūnicornis, (from ūnus (“one”) + cornū (“horn”)), a calque of Ancient Greek μονόκερως (monókerōs, “having one horn”, (from μόνος (mónos, “one”) + κέρας (kéras, “horn”))). Displaced native Old English ānhorn, itself a calque of the Latin term. First attested in the early 13th c. * 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.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Having one horn.
2. (not-comparable) Rare and hard to find.

Deriveds

unicornity

Relateds

qilin · monoceros · blessing · alicorn · kirin · bicorne · reem · tricorn · tricorne

wikipedia: Saint-Lô, France · wikipedia: A Virgin with a Unicorn · wikipedia: Domenichino · wikipedia: TechCrunch

unicorn en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈju.nɪ.kɔɹn/ (US)
• /ˈjuː.nɪ.kɔːn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From Middle English unicorne, unikorn, from Anglo-Norman unicorne, Old French unicorne, and their source, Latin ūnicornis, (from ūnus (“one”) + cornū (“horn”)), a calque of Ancient Greek μονόκερως (monókerōs, “having one horn”, (from μόνος (mónos, “one”) + κέρας (kéras, “horn”))). Displaced native Old English ānhorn, itself a calque of the Latin term. First attested in the early 13th c. * 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.

Meanings

1. A mythical, horselike creature with a horn on its forehead, supposed to be extremely rare and to be drawn to virgins and other chaste maidens.
   • The unicorn who may be touched and tamed only by a chaste virgin is a lunar symbol of the ancient religion of Europe. 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 106:
   • [Seb.] A liuing Drolerie: now I will beleeue / That there are Vnicornes:[…] 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:
2. In various Bible translations, used to render the Latin unicornis or rhinoceros (representing Hebrew רְאֵם): a reem or wild ox.
   • God brought him forth out of Egypt, he hath as it were the ſtrength of an Vnicorne: he ſhall eate vp the nations his enemies, and ſhall breake their bones, and pierce them thorow with his arrowes. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 24:8, column 1:
3. Certain animals: ▸ Any large beetle having a horn-like prominence on the head or prothorax, especially the Hercules beetle, Dynastes tityus.
4. Certain animals: ▸ A caterpillar, Schizura unicornis, with a large thorn-like spine on the back near its head.
5. Certain animals: ▸ The kamichi, or unicorn bird.
6. Certain animals: ▸ A Siberian unicorn, †Elasmotherium sibiricum.
7. Certain animals: ▸ An Asian unicorn, or saola, Pseudoryx nghetinhensis.
8. A howitzer.
   • The Sixth Inniskilling Dragoons and the First Battalion Royal Scots will be in attendance, and there will be unicorns, carricks, pursuivants, heralds, mace-bearers, ushers, and pages, together with the Purse-bearer, and the Lyon King-of-Arms, and the national anthem, and the royal salute 1898, Kate Douglas Wiggin, chapter 8, in Penelope’s Progress […], Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:
9. Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
   • On Capitol Hill, Mr. Manchin is something of a unicorn — the only national Democrat from his ruby-red state — and acts and votes accordingly. 2022 July 15, Emily Cochrane, “Manchin Dangles Hopes of a Future Compromise. Democrats Revolt.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
10. (slang) Someone or something that is rare and hard to find. ▸ A single, usually bisexual woman who participates in swinging or polyamory.
11. 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).
    • But I also think, “They’re looking for a unicorn — a magical designer who can solve all their problems.” It’s too bad unicorns don’t exist. … I have never met a designer who is an expert in all those skill areas. … Even if you find a unicorn designer with all those skills, actually doing all those things at your company is a huge amount of work. 2011 November 1, Braden Kowitz, “Hiring a designer: hunting the unicorn”, in Google Ventures, archived from the original on 22 Mar 2019:
    • He believes that good data scientists, “otherwise known as unicorn data scientists,” have three types of expertise. 2015 October 3, Gil Press, “These Are The Skills You Need To (Eventually) Become A $240,000+ Unicorn Data Scientist”, in Forbes:
12. 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.
    • In May 2016, out of 163 global unicorns, China had 31, with a total valuation of $154 billion or about 26 percent of global unicorn valuation. 2017, Pongsak Hoontrakul, Economic Transformation and Business Opportunities in Asia, Springer, →ISBN, page 273:
    • As the price of Web hosting plummeted and PCs and cell phones proliferated, college and grad-school dropouts like Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page and Sergey Brin could suddenly conjure unicorns on their laptops. 2016 October 3, Tad Friend, “Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny”, in The New Yorker:
13. (qualifier:VTuber fandom slang) 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).
14. (attributive) Being many (especially pastel) colours; multicoloured.
    • unicorn smoothies
15. (historical) A 15th-century Scottish gold coin worth 18 shillings, bearing the image of a unicorn.

Forms

Coordinates

hectocorn · decacorn

Deriveds

unihorn · unicorny · Siberian unicorn · pegacorn · unicornlike · rainbows and unicorns · half-unicorn · bunnicorn · unicornback · Asian unicorn · unicorn root · Chinese unicorn · Invisible Pink Unicorn · caticorn · unicorn puke · unicorn beast · bunnycorn · unicorn hunter · unicorn vomit · unicorn hunting · unicornic · unicorn bait · sea unicorn · unicorn barf · African unicorn · rainbow unicorns · unicorn plant · unicornfish · aunicornist

Descendants

유니콘

Holonyms

blessing

Meronyms

alicorn

Synonyms

purple squirrel · black swan · rara avis · rocking horse shit · rarity · hen's tooth · unicorn · black swan · rare bird · black swan · rarity · lightning in a bottle · rocking horse shit · lightning in a bottle · one in a million · rara avis · one in a million · lightning in a bottle · lightning in a bottle · rocking horse shit · hen's tooth · rare bird · one in a million · lightning in a bottle · one in a million · rocking horse shit · one in a million · rocking horse shit · unicorn · rara avis · hen's tooth · rarity · hen's tooth · unicorn · rarity · unicorn · monoceros · hen's tooth · unicorn · rara avis · rare bird · rara avis · rarity · rare bird · black swan · rare bird · black swan

Translations (117)

rm unicorn (mythical horselike creature) · fy ienhoarn (mythical horselike creature) · hi इकसिंगा (mythical horselike creature) · fi yksisarvinen (mythical horselike creature) · vo balhon (mythical horselike creature) · kl tuugaalik (mythical horselike creature) · th ยูนิคอร์น (mythical horselike creature) · sh је̏днорог (mythical horselike creature) · ms kuda sumbu (mythical horselike creature) · it unicorno (mythical horselike creature) · kk жалғыз мүйіз (mythical horselike creature) · cmn 獨角獸 /独角兽 (startup company) · eu adarbakar (mythical horselike creature) · ka მარტორქა (mythical horselike creature) · hu egyszarvú (mythical horselike creature) · ja 麒麟 (mythical horselike creature) · hy միեղջյուր (mythical horselike creature) · es unicornio (mythical horselike creature) · vo bahon (mythical horselike creature) · pt licorne (mythical horselike creature) · chr ᏐᏈᎵ ᎤᏟᎩ (mythical horselike creature) · pt unicórnio (mythical horselike creature) · ko 유니콘 (mythical horselike creature) · ro inorog (mythical horselike creature) · cmn 獨角獸 /独角兽 (mythical horselike creature) · id kuda bertanduk (mythical horselike creature) · mhr иктӱкан (mythical horselike creature) · cmn 獨角獸企業 /独角兽企业 (startup company) · fr licorne (startup company) · hsb jednorohač (mythical horselike creature) · pl jednorożec (mythical horselike creature) · ta கொம்புக் குதிரை (mythical horselike creature) · da enhjørning (mythical horselike creature) · de Einhorn (mythical horselike creature) · oj ningodeshkani (mythical horselike creature) · bg едноро́г (mythical horselike creature) · fa تکشاخ (mythical horselike creature) · cs jednorožec (mythical horselike creature) · gd aon-adharcach (mythical horselike creature) · br unkorneg (mythical horselike creature) · gd biast-na-sgrogaig (mythical horselike creature) · ar يُونِيكُورْن (mythical horselike creature) · bg иноро́г (mythical horselike creature) · id unikorn (mythical horselike creature) · lt vienaragis (mythical horselike creature) · km សេះស្នែងមួយ (mythical horselike creature) · ro unicorn (mythical horselike creature) · cy uncorn (mythical horselike creature) · kl enhjørningi (mythical horselike creature) · ang ānhorn (mythical horselike creature) · sk jednorožec (mythical horselike creature) · nv łį́į́ʼ bideeʼłáaʼii (mythical horselike creature) · it liocorno (mythical horselike creature) · grc μονόκερως (mythical horselike creature) · yi איינהאָרן (mythical horselike creature) · fr licorne (mythical horselike creature) · tr tek boynuzlu at (mythical horselike creature) · ms rusa senggerek (mythical horselike creature) · hu unikornis (mythical horselike creature) · et ükssarvik (mythical horselike creature) · mr युनिकॉर्न (mythical horselike creature) · ur ارنا گھوڑا (mythical horselike creature) · lv vienradzis (mythical horselike creature) · ja ユニコーン (mythical horselike creature) · el μονόκερος (mythical horselike creature) · vi kì lân (mythical horselike creature) · ms unikorn (mythical horselike creature) · jv unikorn (mythical horselike creature) · uk єдинорі́г (mythical horselike creature) · ast unicorniu (mythical horselike creature) · es unicornio (startup company) · af eenhoring (mythical horselike creature) · ga aonbheannach (mythical horselike creature) · la ūnicornis (mythical horselike creature) · uz bir jinsli (mythical horselike creature) · be аднаро́г (mythical horselike creature) · ar حَرِيش (mythical horselike creature) · sl enorog (mythical horselike creature) · ar أُحَادِيُّ القَرْن (mythical horselike creature) · is einhyrningur (mythical horselike creature) · ro licorn (mythical horselike creature) · sl samorog (mythical horselike creature) · mi unikanga (mythical horselike creature) · ru единоро́г (mythical horselike creature) · az təkbuynuz (mythical horselike creature) · nl eenhoorn (mythical horselike creature) · sq briqen (mythical horselike creature) · nn einhyrning (mythical horselike creature) · eo unukornulo (mythical horselike creature) · io unikorno (mythical horselike creature) · he חַד־קֶרֶן (mythical horselike creature) · sq njëbrirësh (mythical horselike creature) · ca unicorn (mythical horselike creature) · tr kilin (mythical horselike creature) · sco unicorn (mythical horselike creature) · fo einhyrningur (mythical horselike creature) · lb Eenhar (mythical horselike creature) · gd sròin-adharcach (mythical horselike creature) · ba һыңармөгөҙ (mythical horselike creature) · mt unikorn (mythical horselike creature) · gv un-eairkagh (mythical horselike creature) · wa licoine (mythical horselike creature) · gl unicornio (mythical horselike creature) · ko 일각수 (mythical horselike creature) · mk е́днорог (mythical horselike creature) · mnc ᡠᡳᡥᡝᡵᡳᠨ (mythical horselike creature) · enm unicorne (mythical horselike creature) · tr tekboynuz (mythical horselike creature) · sv enhörning (mythical horselike creature) · ja 一角獣 (mythical horselike creature) · sh jȅdnorog (mythical horselike creature) · ja 一角馬 (mythical horselike creature) · tt бермөгез (mythical horselike creature) · za giyez nyaengaeudog (startup company) · tl unikornyo (mythical horselike creature) · sw farasi-pembemoja (mythical horselike creature) · nb enhjørning (mythical horselike creature)

wikipedia: Saint-Lô, France · wikipedia: A Virgin with a Unicorn · wikipedia: Domenichino · wikidata: Q20983877 · wikipedia: TechCrunch

unicorn en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈju.nɪ.kɔɹn/ (US)
• /ˈjuː.nɪ.kɔːn/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From Middle English unicorne, unikorn, from Anglo-Norman unicorne, Old French unicorne, and their source, Latin ūnicornis, (from ūnus (“one”) + cornū (“horn”)), a calque of Ancient Greek μονόκερως (monókerōs, “having one horn”, (from μόνος (mónos, “one”) + κέρας (kéras, “horn”))). Displaced native Old English ānhorn, itself a calque of the Latin term. First attested in the early 13th c. * 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.

Meanings

1. (slang) To participate in a sexual threesome as a bisexual addition to an established heterosexual couple.
   • Also, Dan speaks with a bisexual man, whose first attempt at unicorning (yes, we verbed the word "unicorn,") went poorly, mainly due to his straight couple maybe getting a little too drunky? 2019 September 10, “New Savage Lovecast: Dental Dams Spoiler Alert! (Nobody Uses Them.)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
   • “In Annie’s unicorning, she’s really able to try out other people’s relationships and see how they function from within,” Gillespie tells me. 2017 September 16, Anna Fitzpatrick, “'The Ethical Slut': Inside America's Growing Acceptance of Polyamory”, in Rolling Stone:
   • “Everyone wants the party, but nobody likes to plan,” explains Vixen Vu, a cam model who has been unicorning since she became sexually active. 2018 August 14, Allison Tierney, How to Be a Great Third in a Threesome:
   • Katja*, 27, has unicorned on two separate occasions. 2017 January 13, E.J. Dickson, “This is why you haven't had a threesome yet”, in New York Post:
2. To exceed a valuation of one billion U.S. dollars, while solely backed by venture capitalists.
   • For eager investors looking to score in a future IPO, the eight still-private martech unicorns might be tempting. That list includes Domo, Slack, Sprinklr, Shopify, and EventBrite, all of which have “unicorned,” or surpassed the billion-dollar valuation mark, in the past year or two. 2015 April 30, John Koetsier, “29 martech unicorns: There are now almost 30 $1B+ marketing technology vendors”, in Venture Beat:
   • Since Waze, Soluto and Onavo, both Israeli startups, have had great exits in consumer tech, and Wix “unicorned” through its IPO. 2014 November 3, Itay Hod, “The Airbnb of Home-Cooked Meals”, in Daily Beast:
   • For instance, at the same time as Intercom was announcing its unicorning moment, a young Dublin tech company called Let's Get Checked (letsgetchecked.com) raised €10m in a funding round. 2018 April 1, Adrian Weckler, “Admit it: Irish tech is on the up”, in The Independent:

Forms

wikipedia: Saint-Lô, France · wikipedia: A Virgin with a Unicorn · wikipedia: Domenichino · wikipedia: TechCrunch