Alicorn

Pronunciation

• GenAm IPA: /ˈælɪkɔɹn/
• RP IPA: /ˈælɪkÉ”:n/
• Hyphenation: al + i + corn

From Italian alicorno.

Full definition of alicorn

Noun

1. (now historical) The horn of a unicorn considered as a medical or pharmacological ingredient.
• 1930, The Lore of the UnicornHe admits that powdered alicorn will delay the death of a poisoned pigeon, but says that any other horn will do the same thing by retarding assimilation.
• 1933, Alexander Laing, The Sea Witch"This happens to be my last voyage. But even so, I intend no coercion. If he does not value the alicorn to the extent of ten thousand Spanish dollars, I'll keep it myself. I'm rather fond of the thing. You see, it's a genuine unicorn's horn, and they're exceedingly few."
• 1945, Patrick Henry Yancey, Origins from mythology of biological names and termsTwo kinds were on the market: Unicornum Verum (Alicorn), thought to be Mammoth Tusk, and Unicornum Falsum, Narwhal tusks.
• 1982, The Unicorn that Goes to SeaWhat a fabulous beast was the mythical unicorn — with its horse's head and hoofs, and a single horn, the alicorn, growing out of its forehead.
• 2008-04-21, In a Unicorn's Garden: Recreating the magic and mystery of medieval gardensThe horn of the male narwhal, which sailors called the unicorn of the sea, is thought to have been the unicorn's horn, or alicorn, of medieval commerce. It was very widely believed that alicorn could be used to detect poisons, and when ground and added to a potion would prevent poisoning.
• 2010-10-19, The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry PotterTests to verify the authenticity of alicorn—most of which involved placing spiders near the horn and observing their reactions—were numerous, but apparently few detected bogus horn, for narwhal tusks, masquerading as unicorn horn, made their way into shops across Europe.

Term already associated with unicorns and reinterpreted, popularized by Bearing an Hourglass (1984) and other fantasy novels by Piers Anthony.

According to Nathan2000, when asked how he came up with the term, he answered, “I saw fantasy statuettes in an ad, and one was of a winged unicorn, titled an alicorn, so I figured that was the name and used it. I have not been able to verify it elsewhere.”

Noun

1. (nonstandard) A winged horse with a single horn on its head; a winged unicorn.

Synonyms

• (winged horse) pegacorn, unipeg, unisus all informal

Anagrams

• clairon, clarion, Locrian