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An imaginary animal shaped like a white horse with one straight horn in the middle of its forehead. It comes from old European stories, where it was wild and pure and could only be tamed by a gentle person; today it lives mostly in children's books, cartoons, and a whole industry of pink and rainbow things — unicorn cakes, unicorn pencil cases, unicorn hair.
An imaginary animal shaped like a white horse一種想像出來、長得像白馬的動物，with one straight horn in the middle of its forehead.額頭中間有一支直直的角。It comes from old European stories,牠源自古老的歐洲故事，where it was wild and pure故事裡牠既野性又純潔，and could only be tamed by a gentle person;只有溫柔的人才能馴服牠；today it lives mostly in children's books, cartoons,現在牠大多出現在童書、卡通裡，and a whole industry of pink and rainbow things還有一整個粉紅彩虹風格的商品產業——— unicorn cakes, unicorn pencil cases, unicorn hair.獨角獸蛋糕、獨角獸鉛筆盒、獨角獸髮飾之類的。
Because of that, calling something 'very unicorn' suggests it is cute, sparkly, , and a little bit silly.
Because of that,因為這樣，calling something 'very unicorn'說某個東西「很unicorn」，suggests it is cute, sparkly, girlish, and a little bit silly.暗示的是它可愛、閃亮、少女感，還帶點傻氣。
Two useful stretches. First, in everyday talk a unicorn is something wonderful that you want but probably cannot find, because it may not exist: the perfect flat that is cheap, big and near the station is a unicorn.
Two useful stretches.有兩個很實用的延伸用法。First, in everyday talk第一，日常對話裡，a unicorn is something wonderful that you want but probably cannot find,unicorn指的是你想要、但大概找不到的美好東西，because it may not exist:因為它可能根本不存在：the perfect flat that is cheap, big and near the station又便宜、又大、又靠近車站的完美公寓，is a unicorn.就是一個unicorn。
Second, in business news a unicorn is a young private company worth more than one billion US dollars — rare enough, when the term was coined, to be a mythical beast. That business sense is now very common in Taiwan's tech reporting, so you will meet it.
Second, in business news第二，在商業新聞裡，a unicorn is a young private company worth more than one billion US dollarsunicorn指的是市值超過十億美元的年輕未上市公司——— rare enough, when the term was coined, to be a mythical beast.這個詞剛被創造出來時，這種公司稀有到像神話裡的怪獸一樣。That business sense is now very common in Taiwan's tech reporting,這個商業用法現在在台灣的科技報導裡很常見，so you will meet it.所以你一定會遇到。
In all these uses the thread is the same: one of a kind, rare, hard to find.
In all these uses the thread is the same:在這些用法裡，共通的核心都一樣：one of a kind, rare, hard to find.獨一無二、稀少、很難找到。
組成From Latin ūnicornis: ūnus 'one' + cornū 'horn'. That Latin word was itself a copy of Greek monókerōs, also 'one horn' — and Old English had its own version, ānhorn, before the Latin-French form pushed it out.
同家族的字
- unicyclesame uni- 'one' — one wheel
- uniformsame uni- 'one' — one single form
- unicellularsame uni- 'one' — one cell
- unitalso from Latin ūnus, 'one'
原始詞典資料19 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
unicornnoun/ˈjuː.nɪ.kɔːn/
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human-sciencesmysticismmythologyA mythical, horselike creature with a horn on its forehead, supposed to be very rare and to be drawn to virgins and other chaste maidens.
- [Seb.] A liuing Drolerie: now I will beleeue / That there are Vnicornes:[…]
- The unicorn who may be touched and tamed only by a chaste virgin is a lunar symbol of the ancient religion of Europe.
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biblicallifestylereligionIn various Bible translations, used to render the Latin unicornis or rhinoceros (representing Hebrew רְאֵם): a reem or wild ox.
- God brought him forth out of Egypt, he hath as it were the ſtrength of an Vnicorne: he ſhall eate vp the nations his enemies, and ſhall breake their bones, and pierce them thorow with his arrowes.
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Certain animals:
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Certain animals:
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Certain animals:
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Certain animals:
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Certain animals:
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governmentmilitarypoliticsA howitzer.
- The Sixth Inniskilling Dragoons and the First Battalion Royal Scots will be in attendance, and there will be unicorns, carricks, pursuivants, heralds, mace-bearers, ushers, and pages, together with the Purse-bearer, and the Lyon King-of-Arms, and the national anthem, and the royal salute
另外 7 個記錄的用法
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Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
- On Capitol Hill, Mr. Manchin is something of a unicorn — the only national Democrat from his ruby-red state — and acts and votes accordingly.
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slangSomeone or something that is rare and hard to find.
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businessSomeone or something that is rare and hard to find.
- But I also think, “They’re looking for a unicorn — a magical designer who can solve all their problems.” It’s too bad unicorns don’t exist. … I have never met a designer who is an expert in all those skill areas. … Even if you find a unicorn designer with all those skills, actually doing all those things at your company is a huge amount of work.
- He believes that good data scientists, “otherwise known as unicorn data scientists,” have three types of expertise.
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businessfinanceSomeone or something that is rare and hard to find.
- As the price of Web hosting plummeted and PCs and cell phones proliferated, college and grad-school dropouts like Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page and Sergey Brin could suddenly conjure unicorns on their laptops.
- In May 2016, out of 163 global unicorns, China had 31, with a total valuation of $154 billion or about 26 percent of global unicorn valuation.
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Someone or something that is rare and hard to find.
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Being many (especially pastel) colours; multicoloured.
- unicorn smoothies
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historicalA 15th-century Scottish gold coin worth 18 shillings, bearing the image of a unicorn.
unicornverb/ˈjuː.nɪ.kɔːn/
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slangTo participate in a sexual threesome as a bisexual addition to an established heterosexual couple.
- Katja*, 27, has unicorned on two separate occasions.
- “In Annie’s unicorning, she’s really able to try out other people’s relationships and see how they function from within,” Gillespie tells me.
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businessfinanceTo exceed a valuation of one billion U.S. dollars, while solely backed by venture capitalists.
- Since Waze, Soluto and Onavo, both Israeli startups, have had great exits in consumer tech, and Wix “unicorned” through its IPO.
- For eager investors looking to score in a future IPO, the eight still-private martech unicorns might be tempting. That list includes Domo, Slack, Sprinklr, Shopify, and EventBrite, all of which have “unicorned,” or surpassed the billion-dollar valuation mark, in the past year or two.
unicornadj/ˈjuː.nɪ.kɔːn/
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Having one horn.
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Rare and hard to find.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。