unicorn

Meanings

Noun

• A mythical beast resembling a horse or deer with a single, straight, spiraled horn projecting from its forehead.
• a reem or wild ox.
• Any large beetle having a horn-like prominence on the head or prothorax, especially the Hercules beetle, Dynastes tityus (species).
• A caterpillar, Schizura unicornis (species), with a large thorn-like spine on the back near its head.
• The kamichi, or unicorn bird.
• A howitzer.
• Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
• Being many (especially pastel) colours; multicoloured.
• A 15th-century Scottish gold coin worth 18 shillings, bearing the image of a unicorn.

Verb

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

Origin

• From Middle English unicorne, unikorn, from Anglo-Norman unicorne, Old French unicorne, and their source, Latin ūnicornis, from ūnus + cornū. 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.