this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2023
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Showerthoughts

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The word Unicorn is uni-corn, as in one corn(horn). (self.showerthoughts)
submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by someguy3 to c/showerthoughts
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That means we could also use bicorn, tricorn, etc.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

unicorn (n.) early 13c., from Old French unicorne, from Late Latin unicornus (Vulgate), from noun use of Latin unicornis (adj.) "having one horn," from uni- "one" (from PIE root *oi-no- "one, unique") + cornus "horn" (from PIE root *ker- (1) "horn; head").

The Late Latin word translates Greek monoceros, itself rendering Hebrew re'em (Deuteronomy xxxiii.17 and elsewhere), which probably was a kind of wild ox. According to Pliny, a creature with a horse's body, deer's head, elephant's feet, lion's tail, and one black horn two cubits long projecting from its forehead. Compare German Einhorn, Welsh ungorn, Breton uncorn, Old Church Slavonic ino-rogu. Old English used anhorn as a loan-translation of Latin unicornis.

also from early 13c.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

According to Pliny, a creature with a horse's body, deer's head, elephant's feet, lion's tail, and one black horn two cubits long projecting from its forehead

That’s a pretty good description of Elasmotherium.

Pliny should have missed the last Elasmotherium by like 100,000 years, though, give or take a few years.