Monoceros
[ muh-nos-er-uh s ]
/ məˈnɒs ər əs /
|
noun, genitive Mo·noc·er·o·tis [muh-nos-uh-roh-tis] /məˌnɒs əˈroʊ tɪs/. Astronomy.
the Unicorn, a constellation south of Gemini and east of Orion.
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British Dictionary definitions for monoceros
Monoceros
/ (məˈnɒsərəs) /
noun Latin genitive Monocerotis (məˌnɒsəˈrəʊtɪs)
a faint constellation on the celestial equator crossed by the Milky Way and lying close to Orion and Canis Major
Word Origin for Monoceros
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
monoceros
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]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper