• (RP) IPA: /ˈjuːnɪkɔːn/
• (America) IPA: /ˈjunɪkɔɹn/

unicorn (plural unicorns)

1. A mythical beast resembling a horse or deer with a single, straight, spiraled horn projecting from its forehead.

   hypo en

   meronyms en

   holonyms en

2. (historical) In various Bible translations, used to render the Latin unicornis or rhinoceros (representing Hebrew רְאֵם): a reem or wild ox.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Numbers 24:8 ↗:

     God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.

3. Any large beetle having a horn-like prominence on the head or prothorax, especially the Hercules beetle, Dynastes tityus.
4. A caterpillar, Schizura unicornis, with a large thorn-like spine on the back near its head.
5. The kamichi, or unicorn bird.
6. (military) A howitzer.
7. Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
   1. (sexual slang) A single, usually bisexual woman who participates in swinging and/or polyamory.
   2. (business) A person with multidisciplinary expertise, especially three or more skills in a young field such as UX design or data science (e.g., domain knowledge, statistics, and software engineering).
   3. (finance) A startup company whose valuation has exceeded one billion U.S. dollars, which is solely backed by venture capitalists, and which has yet to have an IPO.

      cot en

      • 2017, Pongsak Hoontrakul, Economic Transformation and Business Opportunities in Asia, Springer (ISBN 9783319589282), page 273:

        In May 2016, out of 163 global unicorns, China had 31, with a total valuation of $154 billion or about 26 percent of global unicorn valuation.

8. (attributive) Being many (especially pastel) colours; multicoloured.

   unicorn smoothies

9. (historical) A 15th-century Scottish gold coin worth 18 shillings, bearing the image of a unicorn.

• French: licorne
• German: Einhorn
• Italian: unicorno
• Portuguese: unicórnio, licorne
• Russian: единоро́г
• Spanish: unicornio

• French: licorne

unicorn (unicorns, present participle unicorning; past and past participle unicorned)

1. (sexual slang) To participate in a sexual threesome as a bisexual addition to an established heterosexual couple.
2. (finance) To exceed a valuation of one billion U.S. dollars, while solely backed by venture capitalists.