cockatrice

American  

[kok-uh-tris] / ˈkɒk ə trɪs /

noun

1. 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.

2. (in the Bible) a venomous serpent.

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cockatrice British  

/ ˈkɒkətrɪs, -ˌtraɪs /

noun

1. a legendary monster, part snake and part cock, that could kill with a glance

2. another name for basilisk

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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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cockatrice

"Vastly amusing, isn't it?" interposed Tag-rag, to prevent mischief—for he knew his wife would as soon have taken a cockatrice into her hand.

From Ten Thousand a-Year. Volume 1. by Samuel Warren

It never occurred to him that the cockatrice might not believe him.

From The Book of Dragons by H. Granville Fell

A cockatrice hast thou hatch’d to the world, Whose unavoided eye is murderous!”

From Folk-lore of Shakespeare by Thomas Firminger Thiselton-Dyer

"Matilda, my own dearest girl," he said, "now that that cockatrice has departed, tell me, you don't doubt your Leander, do you?"

From The Tinted Venus A Farcical Romance by Bernard Partridge

Probably the word "basiliscus" in Theophilus would have been better translated "cockatrice."

From On the Old Road Vol. 1 (of 2) A Collection of Miscellaneous Essays and Articles on Art and Literature by John Ruskin