Wordwyrt

unicorn

/ˈjuːnɪˌkɔːn/YOO-nih-kawrn
/ˈjunɪˌkɔɹn/YOO-nih-kawrn

Meaningone horn

Common meaning: a fabled horse with one horn

‘one’ + ‘a horn’ → unicorn

Journey through time

  • uni — Latin ūnus “one” (path traced)
  • corn — Latin cornū “a horn” (path traced)

Parts join in French as unicorne.

  1. Latinūnus + cornū‘one + a horn’
  2. Frenchunicorne
  3. Middle Englishunicornesource
  4. Englishunicorn‘a fabled horse with one horn’ · today

uni also in: uniteunityuniqueuniformuniverse

corn also in: corneacornet

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin ūnus ‘one’ + Latin cornū ‘a horn’.

Did you know (Latin unus, "one",…): our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry ūnus, p. 1932 · dictionary scan

Did you know (Latin cornu, a…): our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry cornū, p. 470 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

corneacornetuniformuniqueuniteunityuniverse

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