Editing Unicorn (section)

{{short description|Legendary single-horned horse-like creature}}
{{pp-move}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{About|the legendary animal|other uses|Unicorn (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|Unicron|Unicon (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox mythical creature
|name = Unicorn
|image = Oftheunicorn.jpg
|caption = 17th-century woodcut depiction of a unicorn
|Grouping = [[Legendary creature|Mythical creature]]
|Sub_Grouping =
|AKA = [[Monoceros (mythology)|Monocerus]]
|Similar_entities = [[Qilin]], [[Re'em]], [[Indrik]], [[Shadhavar]], [[Camahueto]], [[Karkadann]]
|Folklore = Worldwide
}}
[[File:Domenichounicorndetail.jpg|thumb|''[[A Virgin with a Unicorn]],'' fresco by [[Domenichino]], {{c.|1604–1605}} ([[Palazzo Farnese|Palazzo Farnese, Rome]])<ref>{{cite web |title=Zampieri Domenico, Madonna e unicorno |url=http://catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it/scheda.v2.jsp?tipo_scheda=OA&id=58897 |work=Fondazione Federico Zeri, University of Bologna}}</ref>]]
The '''unicorn''' is a [[legendary creature]] that has been described since [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]] as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling [[horn (anatomy)|horn]] projecting from its forehead.

In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years or so been depicted as a white [[horse]]- or [[goat]]-like animal with a long straight horn with spiraling grooves, cloven hooves, and sometimes a goat's beard. In the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Renaissance]], it was commonly described as an extremely wild [[forest|woodland]] creature, a symbol of purity and grace, which could be captured only by a virgin. In encyclopedias, its horn was described as having the power to render poisoned water potable and to heal sickness. In medieval and Renaissance times, the tusk of the [[narwhal]] was sometimes sold as a unicorn horn.

A [[bovine]] type of unicorn is thought by some scholars to have been depicted in [[Indus seal|seal]]s of the [[Bronze Age]] [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Indus Valley civilization]], the interpretation remaining controversial. An equine form of the unicorn was mentioned by the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] in accounts of [[natural history]] by various writers, including [[Ctesias]], [[Strabo]], [[Pliny the Younger]], [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]],<ref name=Britannica>{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Unicorn |volume= 27 | pages = 581&ndash;582 |last1= Phillips |first1= Catherine Beatrice }}</ref> and [[Cosmas Indicopleustes]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/04z/z_0500-0600__Cosmas_Indicopleustis__Christiana_Topographia_(MPG_088_0051_0476)__GM.pdf.html|title=Cosmas Indicopleustis - Christiana Topographia (MPG 088 0051 0476) [0500-0600] Full Text at Documenta Catholica Omnia|website=www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu}}</ref> The [[Bible]] also describes an animal, the [[re'em]], which some translations render as ''unicorn''.<ref name="Britannica" />

The unicorn continues to hold a place in popular culture. It is often used as a symbol of fantasy or rarity.<ref>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unicorn Unicorn], Merriam-Webster Dictionary.</ref> In the 21st century, it has become an [[LGBTQ symbols|LGBTQ symbol]].