4 ms·

For those posters who declare, "It's not a unicorn!", look up the etymology of the word. It's from Latin; basically, 'uni' means 'one', 'cornus' means 'horn'.

For those posters who declare, "It's not a unicorn!", look up the etymology of the word. It's from Latin; basically, 'uni' means 'one', 'cornus' means 'horn'. 'One horn'. Is that clear enough?

amelius 5y ago
That's a "pars pro toto". The question is: what did the original users of the term mean by it?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  IIRC, the best historical evidence is that the original use of “unicorn” referred to the rhinoceros, though fuzzy understandings of written descriptions led European readers to imagine something like the current popular image. So, the Siberian unicorn, being a member of the rhinoceros family, is probably as legitimately a “unicorn” as anything is.
  - slipframe 5y ago
    From what I understand, the earliest attestation to unicorns is depictions of one-horned animals on seals from the Indus Valley Civilization. It is possible these were actually depictions of aurochs facing sideways, such that only one horn of the auroch was visible. These depictions were misinterpreted by ancient Greeks, who believed unicorns existed in India. The myth grows from there, at times reinforced by accounts of rhinos and 'horns' from narwhals. Sideways depiction of an auroch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#/media/File:Aurochs_skeletal.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#/media/File:Aurochs_sk... Indus Valley Civilization seal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn#/media/File:Indus_civilisation_seal_unicorn_at_Indian_Museum,_Kolkata.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn#/media/File:Indus_civi... On that 'unicorn' seal, there seems to be something hanging from the belly of the animal. That looks very similar to the anatomy of male cattle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle#/media/File:Arouquesa2.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle#/media/File:Arouquesa2....
    - msrenee 5y ago
      I was kind of confused when I saw that seal. My immediate reaction was that it was an aurochs. I wouldn't have thought it was anything else without the description. Now I need to read up about what cultures were familiar with the aurochs. I would have thought the Greeks were familiar with them, but honestly I have no basis for that assumption.
- dathinab 5y ago
  > The question is: what did the original users of the term mean by it? African Rhinoceros! I don't remember the details but I think it was something on the line of a description of "a large horse with a single large horn". Now if you imagine a large _gray_ horse with a single large horn it looks quite similar to a Rihno from afar. Now where does the things about its horn being magical come from? Well Rihno horns are believed to have "magic" properties. And what about it being white? It was added later, by people which never had seen it, I mean what is the most "stunning" looking real horse? A grate white one (for many people). As a side note the unicorn from Siberia did exist alongside with humans, but is likely too old, to matter for the term unicorn. Through skeletons of it might have played a role, maybe.
  - msrenee 5y ago
    It doesn't sound like the horn was preserved during fossilization. Archeologists are inferring that they had one, as most (all?) species of rhino had one and the skull structure implies rather a large one.

For those posters who declare, "It's not a unicorn!", look up the etymology of the word. It's from Latin; basically, 'uni' means 'one', 'cornus' means 'horn'. 'One horn'. Is that clear enough?

amelius 5y ago

That's a "pars pro toto". The question is: what did the original users of the term mean by it?

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
dragonwriter 5y ago
IIRC, the best historical evidence is that the original use of “unicorn” referred to the rhinoceros, though fuzzy understandings of written descriptions led European readers to imagine something like the current popular image. So, the Siberian unicorn, being a member of the rhinoceros family, is probably as legitimately a “unicorn” as anything is.
- slipframe 5y ago
  From what I understand, the earliest attestation to unicorns is depictions of one-horned animals on seals from the Indus Valley Civilization. It is possible these were actually depictions of aurochs facing sideways, such that only one horn of the auroch was visible. These depictions were misinterpreted by ancient Greeks, who believed unicorns existed in India. The myth grows from there, at times reinforced by accounts of rhinos and 'horns' from narwhals. Sideways depiction of an auroch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#/media/File:Aurochs_skeletal.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#/media/File:Aurochs_sk... Indus Valley Civilization seal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn#/media/File:Indus_civilisation_seal_unicorn_at_Indian_Museum,_Kolkata.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn#/media/File:Indus_civi... On that 'unicorn' seal, there seems to be something hanging from the belly of the animal. That looks very similar to the anatomy of male cattle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle#/media/File:Arouquesa2.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle#/media/File:Arouquesa2....
  - msrenee 5y ago
    I was kind of confused when I saw that seal. My immediate reaction was that it was an aurochs. I wouldn't have thought it was anything else without the description. Now I need to read up about what cultures were familiar with the aurochs. I would have thought the Greeks were familiar with them, but honestly I have no basis for that assumption.
dathinab 5y ago
> The question is: what did the original users of the term mean by it? African Rhinoceros! I don't remember the details but I think it was something on the line of a description of "a large horse with a single large horn". Now if you imagine a large _gray_ horse with a single large horn it looks quite similar to a Rihno from afar. Now where does the things about its horn being magical come from? Well Rihno horns are believed to have "magic" properties. And what about it being white? It was added later, by people which never had seen it, I mean what is the most "stunning" looking real horse? A grate white one (for many people). As a side note the unicorn from Siberia did exist alongside with humans, but is likely too old, to matter for the term unicorn. Through skeletons of it might have played a role, maybe.
- msrenee 5y ago
  It doesn't sound like the horn was preserved during fossilization. Archeologists are inferring that they had one, as most (all?) species of rhino had one and the skull structure implies rather a large one.