Unicorn (redirected from Licorne)

unicorn (y`nĭkôrn), fabulous equine beast with a long horn jutting from the middle of its forehead. Once thought to be native to India, the unicorn was reportedly seen throughout the world. It was often considered as a composite creature, having the features of various animals. The unicorn is depicted as a beautiful animal, usually pure white in color. It has been used to represent virginity, but also has religious significance in connection with the Virgin Mary and Jesus. The hunting of the unicorn was a subject in tapestries of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

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unicorn

Unicorn, detail from “The Lady and the Unicorn” tapestry, late 15th century; in the …

(credit: Giraudon/Art Resource, New York)

Mythological animal resembling a white horse with a single horn on its forehead. The unicorn was depicted in Mesopotamian art and was referred to in the ancient myths of India and China. Its earliest description in Greek literature dates from c. 400 BC and probably refers to the Indian rhinoceros. The unicorn was believed to be fierce and difficult to capture, but if a virgin were brought before it, it would lay its head in the virgin's lap. Its horn was thought to offer protection against poison. Medieval writers associated the unicorn with Jesus, and the hunt for the unicorn was often represented in medieval art.

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unicorn

1. an imaginary creature usually depicted as a white horse with one long spiralled horn growing from its forehead

2. Old Testament a two-horned animal, thought to be either the rhinoceros or the aurochs: (Deuteronomy 33:17): mistranslation in the Authorized Version of the original Hebrew

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unicorn

capturable only by virgins; thus, a test of chastity. [Christian Symbolism: Appleton, 105]

See : Chastity

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unicorn

its horn used to test liquids for poison. [Medieval Legend: EB (1963) XXII, 702]

See : Poison

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Unicorn

an old Russian artillery weapon.

One of the extant unicorns—the unicorn cannon—was cast in 1577 by Andrei Chokhov. A new type of unicorn howitzer was invented in 1757 by the Russian artilleryman M. V. Danilov in collaboration with S. A. Martynov and was introduced as armament by P. I. Shuvalov. Unicorns of this type had barrels with a length of 7.5–12.5 calibers with cannonballs weighing from 1.8 to 40 kg. The 246-mm unicorn had a range of up to 4 km. Firing was done with cannonballs, explosive and incendiary shells, bombs, and case shot. Unicorns were used in the Russian artillery as siege, field, cavalry, and mountain guns. They enabled the Russian artillery to accompany its infantry in combat, firing over the heads of the battle formations. Unicorns existed for more than a hundred years, right up to the introduction of rifled guns.