unicorn
n. countablen. a mythical creature that looks like a horse with a single long horn on its head. In business, it describes a private company worth more than one billion dollars.
n. a legendary mammal resembling a horse with a single spiral horn projecting from its forehead. In modern finance, a private startup valued at over one billion US dollars.
The child drew a unicorn with a rainbow mane.
The tech unicorn raised another round of funding last week.
Investors chased the unicorn status, often overlooking the fact that high valuations do not guarantee future profitability or sustainable growth.
From Middle English unicorne, unikorn, from Anglo-Norman unicorne, Old French unicorne, and their source, Latin ūnicornis, from ūnus (“one”) + cornū (“horn”). Displaced native Old English ānhorn, itself a calque. Other senses from either rarity (e.g., possessing multiple skills) or by physical resemblance to having a horn (e.g., howitzer). The finance sense was coined by American investor Aileen Lee and first used in a 2013 article.