unicorn

noun

uni·​corn ˈyü-nə-ˌkȯrn 

plural unicorns

1

a

: a mythical, usually white animal generally depicted with the body and head of a horse with long flowing mane and tail and a single often spiraled horn in the middle of the forehead

b

: an animal mentioned in the Bible that is usually considered an aurochs, a one-horned rhinoceros, or an antelope

2

: something unusual, rare, or unique

There's the elusive unicorn: headphones that do everything well and work in any situation.

—Damon Darlin

In Washington, D.C., truth is now a veritable unicorn.

—Marilyn M. Singleton

… he's like baseball's version of a unicorn—a true two-way player.

—Tony Paul

3

business : a start-up that is valued at one billion dollars or more

… a tech unicorn in Michigan is even more of a rarity, far from Silicon Valley's investor echo chamber.

—Scott Martin

The blockbuster initial public offering is expected to kick off a revitalized market this year, encouraging IPO debuts by other unicorns, the privately held start-ups whose hefty venture capital funds have allowed them to avoid Wall Street and the legal requirements of a public offering.

—Jon Swartz

Illustration of unicorn

Examples of unicorn in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Every trip was magical (really, there’s a reason the national animal is a unicorn). —Joanna Allhands, The Arizona Republic, 16 July 2024

Parisian book smarts Arthur Mensch, the 31-year-old CEO of AI unicorn Mistral, is perhaps the most exciting face of France’s burgeoning tech sector, overseeing the large language model group’s rapid rise to a $6 billion valuation. —Amanda Gerut, Fortune Europe, 20 June 2024

Pippin challenged several other picture books, including Unicorns are the Worst, a book about a goblin upset that so many people like unicorns. —Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel, 14 June 2024

Tech firms that went public this year saw a big jump in share price, reports Quartz’s Rocio Fabbro, and Mizuho Americas says 1,400 unicorns have been created over the last five years — and their investors need to take them public to get a return. —Peter Green, Quartz, 23 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English unicorne, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin unicornis, from Latin, having one horn, from uni- + cornu horn — more at horn

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing unicorn

• unicorn plant

Kids Definition

unicorn

noun

uni·​corn ˈyü-nə-ˌkȯ(ə)rn 

: an imaginary animal generally represented with the body and head of a horse and a single horn in the middle of the forehead

Etymology

Middle English unicorne "unicorn," from early French unicorne (same meaning), derived from Latin unicornis "having one horn," from uni- "one" and cornu "horn" — related to corn entry 3, universe

Medical Definition

unicorn

adjective

uni·​corn ˈyü-nə-ˌkȯ(ə)rn 

: having a single horn or hornlike process

a unicorn uterus