unicorn
Meanings
Plural: unicorns
Noun
- an imaginary creature represented as a white horse with a long horn growing from its forehead
- A mythical horse with a single, straight, spiraled horn projecting from its forehead.
- In various Bible translations, used to render the Latin unicornis or rhinoceros (representing Hebrew רְאֵם): a reem or wild ox.
- Any large beetle having a horn-like prominence on the head or prothorax, especially the Hercules beetle, Dynastes tityus.
- A caterpillar, Schizura unicornis, with a large thorn-like spine on the back near its head.
- The kamichi, or unicorn bird.
- A howitzer.
- Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
- A single, usually bisexual woman who participates in swinging or polyamory.
- 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).
- 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.
- Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
- Being many (especially pastel) colours; multicoloured.
- A 15th-century Scottish gold coin worth 18 shillings, bearing the image of a unicorn.
- Certain animals:
- A Siberian unicorn, †Elasmotherium sibiricum.
- Certain animals:
- An Asian unicorn, or saola, Pseudoryx nghetinhensis.
Verb
- To participate in a sexual threesome as a bisexual addition to an established heterosexual couple.
- To exceed a valuation of one billion U.S. dollars, while solely backed by venture capitalists.
Adj
- Having one horn.
- Rare and hard to find.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English unicorne, unikorn, from Anglo-Norman unicorne, Old French unicorne, and their source, Latin ūnicornis, from ūnus (“one”) + cornū (“horn”).
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.
Synonyms
black swan, hen's tooth, lightning in a bottle, one in a million, purple squirrel, rara avis, rare bird, rarity, rocking horse shit, unicorn
Scrabble Score: 9
unicorn is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordunicorn is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
unicorn is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary