unicorn root

Noun

Synonyms: colicroot colic root crow corn star grass unicorn root

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

any of several perennials of the genus Aletris having grasslike leaves and bitter roots reputed to cure colicSynonyms: colicroot colic root crow corn star grass unicorn root

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Unicorn \U"ni*corn\, n. [OE. unicorne, F. unicorne, L. unicornis one-horned, having a single horn; unus one + cornu a horn; cf. L. unicornuus a unicorn. See One, and Horn.]

1.A fabulous animal with one horn; the monoceros; -- often represented in heraldry as a supporter. [1913 Webster]

2.A two-horned animal of some unknown kind, so called in the Authorized Version of the Scriptures. [1913 Webster]

Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow?— Job xxxix. 10.[1913 Webster]

Note: The unicorn mentioned in the Scripture was probably the urus. See the Note under Reem. [1913 Webster]

3.(Zool.) (a) Any large beetle having a hornlike prominence on the head or prothorax. (b) The larva of a unicorn moth. [1913 Webster]

4.(Zool.) The kamichi; -- called also unicorn bird. [1913 Webster]

5.(Mil.) A howitzer. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

Fossil unicorn, or Fossil unicorn's horn (Med.), a substance formerly of great repute in medicine; -- named from having been supposed to be the bone or the horn of the unicorn.

Unicorn fish, Unicorn whale (Zool.), the narwhal.

Unicorn moth (Zool.), a notodontian moth (Coelodasys unicornis) whose caterpillar has a prominent horn on its back; -- called also unicorn prominent.

Unicorn root (Bot.), a name of two North American plants, the yellow-flowered colicroot (Aletris farinosa) and the blazing star (Chamaelirium luteum). Both are used in medicine.

Unicorn shell (Zool.), any one of several species of marine gastropods having a prominent spine on the lip of the shell. Most of them belong to the genera Monoceros and Leucozonia. [1913 Webster]

Colicroot \Col"ic*root`\, n. A bitter American herb of the Bloodwort family, with the leaves all radical, and the small yellow or white flowers in a long spike (Aletris farinosa and Aletris aurea). Called sometimes star grass, blackroot, blazing star, and unicorn root. [1913 Webster]