unicorn
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈjuːnɪkɔːn/
ipa: /ˈjunɪkɔɹn/
Forms: form: unicorns
Etymology: From Middle English unicorne, unikorn, from Anglo-Norman unicorne, Old French unicorne, and their source, Latin ūnicornis, from ūnus (“one”) + cornū (“horn”).
Other senses from either rarity (e.g., possessing multiple skills) or by physical resemblance to having a horn (e.g., howitzer). The finance sense was coined by American investor Aileen Lee and first used in a 2013 article.
Senses: examples: text: The unicorn who may be touched and tamed only by a chaste virgin is a lunar symbol of the ancient religion of Europe.
ref: 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 106:
meronyms: alicorn
holonyms: blessing
glosses: A mythical horse with a single, straight, spiraled horn projecting from its forehead.
examples: text: God brought him forth out of Egypt, he hath as it were the ſtrength of an Vnicorne: he ſhall eate vp the nations his enemies, and ſhall breake their bones, and pierce them thorow with his arrowes.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 24:8, column 1:
glosses: In various Bible translations, used to render the Latin unicornis or rhinoceros (representing Hebrew רְאֵם): a reem or wild ox.
glosses: Any large beetle having a horn-like prominence on the head or prothorax, especially the Hercules beetle, Dynastes tityus.
glosses: A caterpillar, Schizura unicornis, with a large thorn-like spine on the back near its head.
glosses: The kamichi, or unicorn bird.
examples: text: The Sixth Inniskilling Dragoons and the First Battalion Royal Scots will be in attendance, and there will be unicorns, carricks, pursuivants, heralds, mace-bearers, ushers, and pages, together with the Purse-bearer, and the Lyon King-of-Arms, and the national anthem, and the royal salute
ref: 1898, Kate Douglas Wiggin, chapter 8, in Penelope’s Progress […], Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: A howitzer.
examples: text: On Capitol Hill, Mr. Manchin is something of a unicorn — the only national Democrat from his ruby-red state — and acts and votes accordingly.
ref: 2022 July 15, Emily Cochrane, “Manchin Dangles Hopes of a Future Compromise. Democrats Revolt.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
synonyms: word: black swan
word: hen's tooth
word: lightning in a bottle
word: one in a million
word: rara avis
word: rare bird
word: rarity
word: rocking horse shit
word: unicorn
glosses: Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
synonyms: word: black swan
word: hen's tooth
word: lightning in a bottle
word: one in a million
word: rara avis
word: rare bird
word: rarity
word: rocking horse shit
word: unicorn
glosses: Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
A single, usually bisexual woman who participates in swinging or polyamory.
examples: text: But I also think, “They’re looking for a unicorn — a magical designer who can solve all their problems.” It’s too bad unicorns don’t exist. … I have never met a designer who is an expert in all those skill areas. … Even if you find a unicorn designer with all those skills, actually doing all those things at your company is a huge amount of work.
ref: 2011 November 1, Braden Kowitz, “Hiring a designer: hunting the unicorn”, in Google Ventures:
text: He believes that good data scientists, “otherwise known as unicorn data scientists,” have three types of expertise.
ref: 2015 October 3, Gil Press, “These Are The Skills You Need To (Eventually) Become A $240,000+ Unicorn Data Scientist”, in Forbes:
topics: business
synonyms: word: black swan
word: hen's tooth
word: lightning in a bottle
word: one in a million
word: rara avis
word: rare bird
word: rarity
word: rocking horse shit
word: unicorn
word: purple squirrel
glosses: Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
A person with multidisciplinary expertise, especially a laundry list of three or more skills in a young field such as UX design or data science (e.g., domain knowledge, statistics, and software engineering).
examples: text: As the price of Web hosting plummeted and PCs and cell phones proliferated, college and grad-school dropouts like Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page and Sergey Brin could suddenly conjure unicorns on their laptops.
ref: 2016 October 3, Tad Friend, “Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny”, in The New Yorker:
text: 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.
ref: 2017, Pongsak Hoontrakul, Economic Transformation and Business Opportunities in Asia, Springer, →ISBN, page 273:
topics: business
finance
synonyms: word: black swan
word: hen's tooth
word: lightning in a bottle
word: one in a million
word: rara avis
word: rare bird
word: rarity
word: rocking horse shit
word: unicorn
glosses: Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
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.
coordinate_terms: decacorn
hectocorn
examples: text: unicorn smoothies
glosses: Being many (especially pastel) colours; multicoloured.
glosses: A 15th-century Scottish gold coin worth 18 shillings, bearing the image of a unicorn.
glosses: Certain animals:
A Siberian unicorn, †Elasmotherium sibiricum.
glosses: Certain animals:
An Asian unicorn, or saola, Pseudoryx nghetinhensis.
Derived terms: Asian unicorn
bunnicorn
bunnycorn
Chinese unicorn
half-unicorn
Invisible Pink Unicorn
pegacorn
rainbows and unicorns
rainbow unicorns
sea unicorn
Siberian unicorn
unicorn bait
unicorn barf
unicorn beast
unicorn hunter
unicorn hunting
unicornic
unicornlike
unicorn plant
unicorn puke
unicorn root
unicorn vomit