Unicorn

Forms: 3–7 uni-, 4–6 uny-, 4–7 vni-, vnycorne (6 inny-, ine-; Sc. 5 iny-, owni-, 6 wnicorne); 4–5 vny-, 4–6 vni-, 5 unycorn, 5– unicorn (5–6 vnykorn, 6 vnykhorn). [a. AF., OF. (mod.F.) unicorne (= Pg. unicorne, Pg. and Sp. unicornio, It. unicorno), or directly ad. their source L. ūnicorn-, ūnicornis having one horn (also in late Lat. as sb.), f. ūn-us UNI- + cōrnu horn. Cf. late L. ūnicornuus, med.L. unicornus, -(i)um sbs., from the same source.

  The word was corrupted in OF. to licorne (the usual form in mod.F.), lincorne, etc. It. liocorno, Pg. (a)licorne, etc.)

  I.  1. A fabulous and legendary animal usually regarded as having the body of a horse with a single horn projecting from its forchead (cf. 2 note); the monoceros of the ancients.

  The unicorn has at various times been identified or confused with the rhinoceros, with various species of antelope, or with other animals having a horn (or horns) or horn-like projection from the head. According to Pliny (Nat. Hist., VIII. xxi. § 31) it had a body resembling that of a horse, the head of a deer, the feet of an elephant, and the tail of a lion, with one black horn projecting ‘two cubits’ from the middle of the forehead.

  The horn of this animal was reputed to possess medicinal or magical properties, esp. as an antidote to or preventive of poison: see UNICORN’S HORN.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 120. Mon wroð is wulf, oðer leun, oðer unicorne.

13[?].  K. Alis., 6710 (Bodl. MS.). Ȝitt þou shalt habbe sex hundreþ Rinoceros … And two hundreþ vnicornes.

c. 1315.  Shoreham, Poems, V. 113. Of hyre barme hyt was god game, Þer-inne þe vnicorn weks tame Þat er þan was so wylde.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 159. Þere beeþ also … vnycornes [L. rhinoceros], camels, pardes [etc.].

1423.  Jas. I., Kingis Q., clv. The lufare vnicorne, That voidis venym with his euoure horne.

c. 1511.  1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.), p. xxxiii/2. These vnicornes slee many Lyons, and the Lyon sleeth the vnicorne with subtylnes.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., II. v. 10. Like as a Lyon, whose imperiall powre A prowd rebellious Vnicorne defies.

1609.  Dekker, Gull’s Horn-bk., ii. 12. The Unicorne, whose horne is worth halfe a City.

1657.  Trapp, Comm. Job xxxix. 9. This is the … Unicorn…. A very fierce and strong creature it is; and now adayes very rare, but anciently more common.

1735.  Johnson, Lobo’s Abyssinia, Descr., ii. 51. In the Province of Agaus, has been seen the Unicorn, that Beast so much talk’d of, and so little known.

1801.  Monthly Rev., XXXV. 351. On the probability of the existence of an Unicorn.

1843.  De Quincey, Ceylon, Wks. 1859, XII. 8. The whole traditionary character of the unicorn as the antagonist … of the lion.

1895.  J. G. Millais, Breath fr. Veldt, 133. Any one who has seen a wild sable antelope galloping cannot fail to be struck by its resemblance to the unicorn.

  b.  Used in ME. versions of the OT. to render the Vulgate ūnicornis or rhīnocerōs (Gr. μονόκερως) as translations of Heb. (also rēym), and retained in various later versions (but translated ‘wild-ox’ in the Revised Bible). See REEM.

a. 1300.  E. E. Psalter xxi. 22 (xxii. 21). Sauf me fra mouth of lioun es, And fra hornes of vnicornes mi mekenes. [Also versions a. 1340–1611.]

1382.  Wyclif, Numb. xxiii. 22. Whos strengthe is lijk to an vnycorn. [Also versions 1388–1611.]

c. 1580.  Sidney, Psalms XXII. xiii. Show to heare me, By aiding, when fierce Vnicornes come neere me.

1639.  Sir W. Mure, Ps. xxii. Wks. (S.T.S.), II. 89. From the hornes of vnicornes Thine eare (Lord) found I have.

1696.  Tate & Brady, Ps. xxix. 6. They … leap, like Hinds that bounding go, Or Unicorns in youthful play.

  c.  In fig. or allusive use.

  In quot. 1607 = ‘a cuckold.’

1509.  Barclay, Shyp of Folys, 212. [Let] James of Scotlande … haue the forwarde, haue ye no disdayne Nor indignation, for neuer kynge was borne, That of ought of warre can shewe the vnycorne.

1592.  G. Harvey, Four Lett., 52. The only Vnicorne of the Muses.

1607.  Dekker, Northw. Hoe, IV. F j b. Fetherstone … it seemes makes her husband a vnicorne.

1826.  Galt, Last of Lairds, vi. 53. Bridle the unicorn o’ your impatience.

  † d.  Horn reputed to be that of the unicorn prepared as an embellishment or ornament. Obs.

a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1559), Y ij b. It was of wood Libanus, and round about garnished with unicorne.

1599.  Peele, David & Bethsabe, H ij. Shee that in chaines of pearle and vnicorne, Leads at her traine the ancient golden world.

  2.  A figure, picture, or representation of this animal, esp. in Her. either as a charge or more usually as a supporter of the Royal Arms of Great Britain (or Scotland).

  Usually depicted heraldically as having the head, neck, and body of a horse, the legs of a deer and the tail of a lion, with a straight and spirally twisted horn growing out of the forehead.

c. 1400.  Emaré, 164. The fayr mayden her by-forn Was portrayed an vnykorn, Wyth hys horn so hye.

1488.  Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., I. 85. A couering … browdin with thrissillis and a vnicorne.

1549.  in Gage, Hengrave (1822), 127. iij cuppes with a cover chased, with unicorns on the top.

1610.  Guillim, Heraldry, VI. vii. 280. Supported by a Lion … and an Vnicorne Luna, gorged with a Crowne.

1766.  in Seton, Law Her. Scotland (1863), 442. His Majesty’s royal coat-of-arms supported on the right side by a unicorn with an imperial crown over the head.

1789.  Mrs. Piozzi, Journ. France, etc., II. 221. The family crest, a unicorn, made in white marble.

1813.  Gentl. Mag., LXXXIII. 37/2. With supporters (lion and unicorn) of the Royal arms.

1875.  W. M‘Ilwraith, Guide to Wigtownshire, 55. Here is an escutcheon bearing two unicorns and a lion rampant and the crown.

  3.  Sc. The specific designation of one of the pursuivants of the court of the Lyon King of Arms. See PURSUIVANT 1.

1445.  Exchequer Rolls Scot., V. 204. Quia Unicorn signifer regis illam terram habuit ex concessione regis.

1473–4.  Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., I. 52. Item gevin to Vnicorne herald,… to his expensis, x li. Ibid. (1546), IX. 33. To Petir Thomson, alias Unicorne pursevant.

1636.  Reg. Privy Council Scot., Ser. II. VI. 605. The deceased George Wast, Unicorn pursuivant. Ibid. (1662), Ser. III. I. 259. Leyes … was charged by William Malcolm, Unicorn pursuivant, to compear this day.

1742.  Nisbet, Syst. Heraldry, II. IV. xvi. 171. As for Pursevants, they are also for most Part locally denominate, Unicorn only excepted.

1863.  Seton, Law Her. Scotland, 38. As in the case of the Heralds, the Pursuivants are also six in number, and bear the names of Kintyre, Dingwall, Carrick, Bute, Ormond, and Unicorn.

  4.  A Scottish gold coin current in the 15th and 16th centuries at the value of 18 shillings Scots; so called from the figure of the unicorn stamped upon its obverse. Also half unicorn. Now Hist.

1487.  Exchequer Rolls Scot., IX. 549. In denariis aureis vocatis unicornys.

1500–20.  Dunbar, Poems, lxvi. 78. Vpon the heid of it is hecht Bayth unicornis, and crownis or wecht.

1538.  Aberd. Reg., XVI. (Jam.). Ane vnicorn gud & sufficient gold.

1845.  Lindsay, Coinage Scot., 137. The Unicorns generally weigh about fifty-eight grains,… the half Unicorns in proportion.

1887.  E. Burns, Coinage Scotl., II. 151. The coinages of unicorns that took place under James V.

  † b.  Used attrib. as the designation of a weight, equivalent to about one-eighth of an ounce troy.

1506.  Extr. Aberdeen Reg. (1844), I. 434. Ane corss of gold, weyand half ane unce, and half ane unicorn weicht.

1560.  St. Giles Charters (1859), p. xlvii. Foure vnce, ane half, and ane vnicorne weicht of gold.

  5.  Astr. A southern constellation lying between Canis Minor and Canis Major.

  This constellation was noted by Hevelius in his Prodromus Astron. (1690), pp. 118, 294, under the name of Monoceros.

1771.  Encycl. Brit., I. 487/2. Hevelius’s Constellations made out of the unformed Stars [include] … Monocerus, The Unicorn.

1868.  Lockyer, Guillemin’s Heavens (ed. 3), 382. The northern half of the Milky Way extends … to the Unicorn at the altitude of and near the belt of Orion.

  6.  A carriage, coach, etc., drawn by three horses, two abreast and one leader; now usually, a team of three horses so arranged. (Cf. 11 b.)

1785.  Grose, Dict. Vulgar T., Unicorn, a coach drawn by three horses.

1800.  Mar. Edgeworth, Belinda, xvi. She drove in her unicorn to Oakly-park.

1866.  Freeman, in Life & Lett. (1895), I. 342. I would put on the children’s pony … in front of my two, so as to make an unicorn.

1889.  Evening News, 28 Aug., 3/2. Their demands of 24s. for a single horse, 28s. for a pair, and 30s. for a ‘unicorn.’

  transf.  1860.  R. F. Burton, Centr. Afr., xiii. II. 38. We crossed as usual on a ‘unicorn’ of negroids, the upper part of the body supported by two men, and the feet resting upon the shoulders of a third.

1887.  Cyclists’ Tour. Cl. Gaz., May, 215/1. The unicorn … is made up of a[n] … ordinary bicycle front-wheel coupled to a … sociable.

  b.  Quasi-adv.

1859.  Habits of Gd. Society, v. 200. You will seldom be called upon to drive tandem, unicorn, or four in hand.

1863.  Miss Braddon, Aurora Floyd, v. There were more lofty accomplishments than driving unicorn or shooting … game.

  II.  † 7. The one-horned rhinoceros. Obs.

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIV. ix. (Bodl. MS.). [In] þat londe [sc. Ethiopia] beþ … þe rynocerota þat is þe vnicorne, a beste wiþ oon horne.

a. 1700.  Evelyn, Diary, 22 Oct., 1684. I went … to see the Rhinoceros, or Unicorn, being the first that I suppose was ever brought into England.

  8.  As the name of a fish, shell, etc., having a projecting horn or horn-like process, or regarded as resembling the fabulous unicorn in some other respect. Cf. MONOCEROS 2 and 4.

  A few examples other than those illustrated here are recorded in American Dicts. from 1891 onwards.

  † a.  (see quot.) Obs.

1668.  Charleton, Onomast., 123. Monoceros Clusii, the little Vnicorn, or Sawfish.

  b.  The narwhal or sea-unicorn.

  Named also unicorn-fish, -whale, and abbrev. UNIE.

1694.  Marten’s Voy. Spitzbergen, in Acc. Sev. Late Voy., II. 126. The Unicorn is but seldom seen in these parts.

1745.  trans. Egede’s Descr. Greenland, 76. Among the different Kinds of Whales, some reckon the Unicorn, as they commonly call him,… but his right Name is Nar-Whale.

1823.  W. Scoresby, Jrnl., 39. Here we saw a considerable number of ‘unicorns’ (narwals).

  c.  A unicorn-shell. (See 11.)

c. 1711.  Petiver, Gazophyl., VI. liii. Grass girdled Indian Unicorn, Cat. 263. A beautiful Shell and rarely met with.

  9.  Zool. A species having one horn.

1822.  J. Parkinson, Outl. Oryctol., 312. There appear to be three existing species of rhinoceroses:—1. That of India: a unicorn;…—2. That of the Cape: a bicorn.

  III.  10. attrib. and Comb., as unicorn bone (i.e., horn), horse, -ivory; -crested, -like adjs.

1477.  Earl Rivers (Caxton), Dictes, D iv. Ther is summe contre that a litil yuory or vnycorne bone is bought for a grete somme of gold.

1838.  Penny Cycl., XII. 306/1. The … Onager, figured … with a unicorn-like horn in the midst of its forehead. Ibid. (1843), XXVI. 3. Strabo … refers to Unicorn horses with the heads of deer.

1853.  R. S. Surtees, Sponge’s Sp. Tour, xlix. The unicorn-crested gates, with tea-caddy looking lodges.

1856.  Kane, Arct. Expl., II. xiv. 141. The natives carried no arms but the long knife and their unicorn-ivory lances.

  11.  Special combs., chiefly in the names of animals, birds, fishes, plants, etc., which are characterized by a long projecting horn-like process or spine regarded as resembling the horn of the unicorn: unicorn acanthurus (see quot. and UNICORN-FISH c); unicorn auk (see quot.); unicorn-bird, the horned screamer, Palamedea cornuta; unicorn file-fish (see quot.); † unicorn guard Fencing, a guard in which the sword is advanced well to the front of the fencer; unicorn hawk (-moth), hornbill (see quots.); unicorn-moth, the North American moth, Cœlodasys unicornis; unicorn narwhal, = sense 8 b; unicorn-plant U.S., a name for various North American plants, esp. Martynia proboscidea, the capsule of which terminates in two horn-like spines; unicorn-root U.S. (see quots.); unicorn-shell, a marine gasteropod having a horn-like lip projecting from the shell, now esp. one belonging to the genus Monoceros; unicorn whale, = sense 8 b.

1803.  Shaw, Gen. Zool., IV. 374. *Unicorn Acanthurus. Acanthurus Unicornis.… From the front proceeds a strong, conical, horn-shaped process.

1884.  Coues, North Amer. Birds, 805. Ceratorhina monocerata. *Unicorn Auk. Horn-bill Auk.

1681.  Grew, Musæum, I. § iv. ii. 65. The *Unicorne Bird [is] … Horned on his Forehead (with some likeness) as the Unicorne is pictur’d.

1863.  Bates, Nat. Amazon, I. 277. The Curicáca … was soon joined by a unicorn bird…; whose harsh screams [etc.].

1804.  Shaw, Gen. Zool., V. II. 399. *Unicorn File-fish. Balistes Monoceros.… Immediately over the head … is a very strong … spine of considerable length.

1617.  J. Swetnam, Sch. Sci. Defence, 126. An other very sure and dangerous guard at the Backe-sword, called the *Vnicorne guard, or the fore-hand guard.

1711.  Wylde, Eng. Master Defence, 23. The Medium Unicorn or Center Guard, is made thus.

1832.  J. Rennie, Consp. Butterfl. & M., 24. The *Unicorn Hawk (Sphinx Convolvuli, Linnæus) appears in September.

1834.  T. Brown, Butterflies & Moths, I. 96. Two fine males of the Sphinx Convolvuli (Unicorn Hawk-moth).

1811.  Shaw, Gen. Zool., VIII. 11. *Unicorn Hornbill. [Buceros Monoceros.]… The casque is prolonged in front into a kind of horn.

1891.  Cent. Dict., s.v., Larva of *Unicorn-moth.

1813.  Bingley, Anim. Biog. (ed. 4), II. 1. The Unicorn Narwal, or Sea Unicorn.

1796.  Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 189. *Unicorn [plant] (Aletris farinosa).

1845–50.  Mrs. Lincoln, Lect. Bot., II. 110/1. Helonias diœcia, scape leafy…. Unicorn plant.

1847.  Darlington, Amer. Weeds, etc. (1860), 222. M. proboscidea … Long-beaked Martynin. Unicorn Plant.

1891.  H. Herman, His Angel, 6. Woodbine, unicorn plant, and wild currant surged all about it.

1846.  A. Wood, Class-bk. Bot. (1850), 559. Helonias dioica, Ph. (Veratrum luteum. Linn.) *Unicorn Root.

1847.  Webster, Unicorn-root, a popular name of two plants, viz. Chamælirium Carolinianum [= Helonias dioica], to which this name was first applied, and Aletris farinosa...; both used in medicine.

1891.  Cent. Dict., Unicorn-root, the blazing star, Aletris farinosa.

c. 1711.  Petiver, Gazophyl., VI. lv. A *Unicorn Shell with Bugle Twirls. Ibid., VIII. lxxv. Small Unicorn-shell, with rugged Twirls and Waves between.

1888.  Cassell’s Encycl. Dict., Monoceros,… Unicorn-shell; a genus of prosobranchiate gasteropods … peculiar to the west coast of America.

1668.  Charleton, Onomast., 168. Balæna Monoceros, Vnicornu Marinum,… the *Vnicorn Whale.

1694.  Acc. Sev. Late Voy., p. xix. The Monoceros or Unicorn Whale.

1858.  Baird, Cycl. Nat. Sci., 199/1. The … unicorn whale, Monodon Monoceros, has no teeth in the lower jaw.

  b.  Attrib. in sense 6, as unicorn carman, fashion, omnibus (attrib.), team.

1856.  Morton, Cycl. Agric., II. 726. A unicorn team is two abreast and one in front.

1877.  ‘C. Bede,’ Figaro at Hastings, 47. Some [wagonettes] with four horses, some with three (unicorn fashion).

1884.  ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Melb. Mem., i. 14. Frank Liardet is driving his unicorn omnibus team from the lonely beach.

1898.  Westm. Gaz., 6 Sept., 1/3. A ‘unicorn carman’ … means ‘one who drives three horses.’

  † 12.  Passing into adj. Made a unicorn or cuckold (cf. sense 1 c above). Obs.^–1

1603.  Dekker, Wonderfull Yeare, E 4. The vnicorne cobler being ouer head and eares in sleepe.