cockatrice
Americannoun
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a legendary monster with a deadly glance, supposedly hatched by a serpent from the egg of a rooster, and commonly represented with the head, legs, and wings of a rooster and the body and tail of a serpent.
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(in the Bible) a venomous serpent.
noun
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a legendary monster, part snake and part cock, that could kill with a glance
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another name for basilisk
Etymology
Origin of cockatrice
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English cocatrice, from Middle French cocatris, from Medieval Latin caucātrīces (plural), Latin calcātrīx (unattested), feminine of calcātor (unattested) ”tracker,” equivalent to calcā(re) “to tread,” verbal derivative of calx “heel” + -tor agent suffix; the Latin was a direct translation of Greek word ichneúmōn, having the same meaning. See -trix, -tor, ichneumon
Vocabulary lists containing cockatrice
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.