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cockatrice

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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A cockatrice on a coat of arms.

Etymology

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First attested 1382 as Middle English cocatrice (basilisk), from Old French cocatriz, from Late Latin calcātrīx (she who treads upon something), from Latin calcō (tread), from calx (heel, hoof).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈkɒkətɹaɪs/, /ˈkɒkətɹɪs/

Noun

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cockatrice (plural cockatrices)

  1. (mythology) A legendary creature about the size and shape of a dragon or wyvern, but in appearance resembling a giant rooster, with some lizard-like characteristics.
    Hypernym: chimera
    Coordinate terms: basilisk, wyvern
    • c. 1910, Joseph Walker McSpadden, The Spell of Egypt:
      “Peace reigns in happy Luxor. The lion lies down with the lamb, and the child, if it will, may harmlessly put its hand into the cockatrice’s den.”
  2. (obsolete) A mistress, a harlot.
  3. (fantasy, folklore) A snake or serpent that appears to be hatched from a rooster, or cock's, egg.
  4. (speculated) The cobra. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  5. (obsolete, figurative) Any venomous or deadly thing.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  • For meaning "mistress": 1949, John Dover Wilson (compiler), Life in Shakespeare's England. A Book of Elizabethan Prose, Cambridge at the University Press. 1st ed. 1911, 2nd ed. 1913, 8th reprint. In Glossary and Notes
  • For meaning "a snake of a chicken's egg:" 1828, Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English language.
  • For "cobra:" an article, “Cockatrice” or “Adder” in Isaiah 11:8 et al.?

Further reading

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