Monoceros
[muh-nos-er-uh s]
- the Unicorn, a constellation south of Gemini and east of Orion.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for monoceros
Historical Examples
The remaining stars of Monoceros will be found on map No. 3.
Pleasures of the telescopeGarrett Serviss
The species described by Leuckart, from Monodon monoceros, is only half an inch long.
ParasitesT. Spencer Cobbold
In its present form it was not known to the ancients, not even to Pliny, whose idea of the Monoceros or Unicorn is peculiar.
Curious Creatures in ZoologyJohn Ashton
The stars forming the western end of Monoceros are depicted on map No. 1.
Pleasures of the telescopeGarrett Serviss
Turning now to the constellation Monoceros, we shall find a few objects worthy of attention.
Astronomy with an Opera-glassGarrett Putman Serviss
Monoceros
- a faint constellation on the celestial equator crossed by the Milky Way and lying close to Orion and Canis Major
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Word Origin
C14: via Old French from Latin: unicorn, from Greek monokeros with a single horn, from mono- + keras horn
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for monoceros
n.
c.1300, "the unicorn," from Old French monoceros "unicorn," from Latin monoceros, from Greek monokeros, from mono- "single" (see mono-) + keras "horn" (see kerato-).
This is a modern constellation, generally supposed to have been first charted by Bartschius as Unicornu; but Olbers and Ideler say that it was of much earlier formation, the latter quoting allusions to it, in the work of 1564, as "the other Horse south of the Twins and the Crab"; and Scaliger found it on a Persian sphere. [Richard Hinckley Allen, "Star Names and Their Meanings," London: 1899]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper