Unicorn

How to spell unicorn

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce unicorn

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unicorn mean?

1. nounA mythical horse-like creature with a single horn projecting from its forehead.
2. nounA privately held startup company valued at more than one billion dollars.

Unicorn in a sentence

• The children painted a pink unicorn on the nursery wall.

• The venture fund hoped to back the next billion-dollar unicorn before it went public.

• Medieval tapestries often depicted a white unicorn resting beside a maiden.

• Only a handful of tech firms ever reach unicorn status.

Where does unicorn come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin unicornis, meaning 'having a single horn', formed from unus 'one' and cornu 'horn'. Roman writers used it to translate a Greek term, monokeros, that described a mythical one-horned beast mentioned in ancient natural histories. English picked the word up through Old French unicorne in the 1200s, often in religious texts where translators used it for a Hebrew creature they did not fully understand. The cornu element is the same root that gives English 'cornucopia' (the horn of plenty) and even relates to 'horn' itself. In modern business slang it has gained a second life, describing a privately held startup valued at over a billion dollars, prized because such companies are as rare as the legendary animal.

How the word is built

• uni- (one)
• corn (horn, from Latin cornu)