In stories and legends, a unicorn is an imaginary animal that looks like a white horse and has a horn growing from its forehead.
unicorn in British English
(ˈjuːnɪˌkɔːn)
noun
1.
an imaginary creature depicted as a white horse with one long spiralled horn growing from its forehead, regarded as symbol of innocence and purity
2. Old Testament
a two-horned animal, thought to be either the rhinoceros or the aurochs (Deuteronomy 33:17): mistranslation in the Authorized Version of the original Hebrew
3. business informal
a recently launched business enterprise that is valued at more than one billion dollars
Word origin
C13: from Old French unicorne, from Latin ūnicornis one-horned, from ūnus one + cornu a horn
unicorn in American English
(ˈjunəˌkɔrn)
noun
1.
a mythical horselike animal with a single horn growing from the center of its forehead
2. Bible
a two-horned, oxlike animal: Deut. 33:17
Word origin
ME unicorne < OFr < L unicornis, one-horned < unus, one + cornu, horn; (sense 2) < a mistransl. of Heb reem, wild ox
Examples of 'unicorn' in a sentence
unicorn
Her mother had replaced the broken pane of glass, carefully puttying the edges; and the unicorn curtains were in place.
Lowry, Lois ANASTASIA KRUPNIK (3-IN-1) (2002)
The unicorn shook its mane, then began to crop the grass of the meadow contentedly.