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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Fossil unicorn's horn

Unicorn \U"ni*corn\, n. [OE. unicorne, F. unicorne, L. unicornis one-horned, having a single horn; unus one + cornu a horn; cf. L. unicornuus a unicorn. See One, and Horn.]

  1. A fabulous animal with one horn; the monoceros; -- often represented in heraldry as a supporter.

  2. A two-horned animal of some unknown kind, so called in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures.

    Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow?
    --Job xxxix. 10.

    Note: The unicorn mentioned in the Scripture was probably the urus. See the Note under Reem.

  3. (Zo["o]l.)

    1. Any large beetle having a hornlike prominence on the head or prothorax.

    2. The larva of a unicorn moth.

  4. (Zo["o]l.) The kamichi; -- called also unicorn bird.

  5. (Mil.) A howitzer. [Obs.]

    Fossil unicorn, or Fossil unicorn's horn (Med.), a substance formerly of great repute in medicine; -- named from having been supposed to be the bone or the horn of the unicorn.

    Unicorn fish, Unicorn whale (Zo["o]l.), the narwhal.

    Unicorn moth (Zo["o]l.), a notodontian moth ( C[oe]lodasys unicornis) whose caterpillar has a prominent horn on its back; -- called also unicorn prominent.

    Unicorn root (Bot.), a name of two North American plants, the yellow-flowered colicroot ( Aletris farinosa) and the blazing star ( Cham[ae]lirium luteum). Both are used in medicine.

    Unicorn shell (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of marine gastropods having a prominent spine on the lip of the shell. Most of them belong to the genera Monoceros and Leucozonia.