U·ni·corn n.
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. Zool. (a) Any large beetle having a hornlike prominence on the head or prothorax. (b) The larva of a unicorn moth.
4. Zool. 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 Zool., the narwhal.
Unicorn moth Zool., a notodontian moth (Coelodasys 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 (Chamaelirium luteum). Both are used in medicine.
Unicorn shell Zool., 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.
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