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 Justin H. (Justin Huntly) McCarthy
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 John Ruskin
So it toys with leviathan, and 'lays its hand on the cockatrice den,' and my text is an instance of this.
From Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians; Epistles of St. Peter and St. John by Alexander Maclaren
He told the boys at school about the cockatrice and his wonderful true tales, and the boys liked the stories; but when he told the master he was caned for untruthfulness.
From The Book of Dragons by H. Granville Fell
It may be inaccurate, and biassed and acrid, but it presents the family circle from within by one of themselves, and no more vivid picture can exist of that strange cockatrice brood of Pitts.
From Lord Chatham His Early Life and Connections by Archibald Phillip Primrose Rosebery
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
