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
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Was not Arezzo, deceived by this action of private justice, to take Messer Griffo to her arms, only to find that she had cuddled a cockatrice?
From The God of Love by McCarthy, Justin H. (Justin Huntly)
His enemy is the wesell, who when he goeth to fight with ye cockatrice eateth the herbe commonlye called Rewe, and so in fight byting him he dyeth and the wesell therewith dyeth also.
From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Lower, Mark Antony
But 'the weaned child shall lay his hand on the cockatrice den.'
From The Crown of Wild Olive also Munera Pulveris; Pre-Raphaelitism; Aratra Pentelici; The Ethics of the Dust; Fiction, Fair and Foul; The Elements of Drawing by Ruskin, John
One great preservative was the wearing of a ring with the figure of a cockatrice upon it.
From Rambles of an Archaeologist Among Old Books and in Old Places Being Papers on Art, in Relation to Archaeology, Painting, Art-Decoration, and Art-Manufacture by Fairholt, F. W. (Frederick William)
The woman he loves resembles the bird called "Kalander," or again, the animal called "cockatrice" or "cocodrille," which is often mentioned by Lyly.
From The English Novel in the Time of Shakespeare by Jusserand, J. J.
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.
