unicorn

American  

[yoo-ni-kawrn] / ˈju nɪˌkɔrn /

noun

• unicorns
  plural

1. a mythical creature resembling a horse, with a single horn in the center of its forehead: often symbolic of chastity or purity.

2. a heraldic representation of this animal, in the form of a horse with a lion's tail and with a long, straight, and spirally twisted horn.

3. Astronomy. Unicorn, the constellation Monoceros.

4. an animal mentioned in the Bible, Deuteronomy 33:17: now believed by some to be a description of a wild ox or rhinoceros.

5. a former gold coin of Scotland, first issued by James III in 1486, having an obverse bearing the figure of a unicorn.

6. Business. a relatively new company, usually less than ten years old, that is valued at $1 billion or more by public or private investors.

7. a person or thing that is rare and highly valued, or is a hypothetical ideal.

   Hiring unicorns is expensive, but their productivity can take your enterprise to the next level.

   Finding jeans that are comfortable and fashionable—that’s my unicorn.

8. Slang. a bisexual woman who joins an established heterosexual couple in a sexual encounter or relationship.

---

idioms

1. chase a / the unicorn, to pursue an unattainable object or impossible goal, especially when diverting effort or resources away from an existing commitment or practical plan.

unicorn British  

/ ˈjuːnɪˌkɔːn /

noun

1. an imaginary creature usually depicted as a white horse with one long spiralled horn growing from its forehead

2. Old Testament a two-horned animal, thought to be either the rhinoceros or the aurochs (Deuteronomy 33:17): mistranslation in the Authorized Version of the original Hebrew

---

unicorn Cultural  

1. A mythical animal resembling a small horse but with a long, straight horn growing out of its forehead. Often it was described as having the legs of a deer and the tail of a lion. Some sources claim it was visible only to virgins.

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• unicorns
  plural

Etymology

Origin of unicorn

First recorded in 1200–1250; Middle English, from Old French unicorne, from the Latin adjective ūnicornis “one-horned” (used as a noun in the Vulgate and possibly referring to the rhinoceros), a loan translation from the Greek noun and adjective monókerōs, equivalent to uni- “one” + corn(ū) “horn” + -is adjective suffix; see uni-, horn

Explanation

A unicorn is a mythical horse-like creature which has one horn on its forehead. During the Middle Ages, a unicorn horn was said to have magical healing properties. Unicorns show up in many cultures' traditions of folklore and mythology, reaching as far back as Bronze Age civilizations and ancient Greece. Usually, unicorns are presented in art and stories as looking just like horses — or sometimes goats — aside from their long, spiraling horn. The root of the word unicorn is the Latin adjective unicornis, "having one horn," from uni, or "one," and cornus, "horn."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

unicorn unicorns

Charlene remembered her nephew as a source of happiness in her home, a cheerful presence who once used his allowance to buy his mother a stuffed unicorn.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

Read: There have been updates over time, but the original glass etching featuring a mythical unicorn remains on a window in the study.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

Vast, a Chinese artificial-intelligence unicorn backed by technology titans Alibaba and Baidu, is in talks with investors to get fresh capital, people familiar with the matter say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Small cuddly toys of the unicorn sold out in store and online before the weekend.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Feathers’ eyes, on the other hand, are laser-locked on Suma’s unicorn sweatshirt, a confused but jealous look on her face.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

In short: A big tax break for investment in new companies, introduced in 2009, resulted in more business unicorns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

“For SaaS-era unicorns that raised at 2021 peaks, the exit path has narrowed: Strategic M&A at a discount is increasingly the realistic alternative,” Tunguz said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

And Callum Beattie's performance of the Scotland football anthem Yes Sir, I Can Boogie - featuring silver unicorns and dancing Barrowland-style stars - put a smile on everyone's face.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Meanwhile, as capital and investor attention are focused on AI and a handful of companies, experts say, non-AI companies and older unicorns — startups valued at more than $1 billion — face difficulty raising funds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Maybe they didn’t even remember how disgusted Emma had been by some of the girls in third grade last year, who went around talking about rainbows and unicorns and butterflies and magic.

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

• fantasy
• hypothetical
• ideal
• impossibility
• rarity