cockatrice

[ kok-uh-tris ]
/ ˈkɒk ə trɪs /

noun

a legendary monster with a deadly glance, supposedly hatched by a serpent from the egg of a cock, and commonly represented with the head, legs, and wings of a cock and the body and tail of a serpent. Compare basilisk(def 1).
a venomous serpent. Isa. 11:8.

Origin of cockatrice

1350–1400; Middle English cocatrice < Middle French cocatris < Medieval Latin caucātrīces (plural), Latin *calcātrīx (see -trix), feminine of *calcātor tracker, equivalent to calcā(re) to tread, verbal derivative of calx heel + -tor -tor; rendering Greek ichneúmon ichneumon

Words nearby cockatrice

cockalorum, cockamamie, cockapoo, cockatiel, cockatoo, cockatrice, cockayne, cockayne's syndrome, cockboat, cockchafer, cockcroft

Example sentences from the Web for cockatrice

British Dictionary definitions for cockatrice

cockatrice
/ (ˈkɒkətrɪs, -ˌtraɪs) /

noun

a legendary monster, part snake and part cock, that could kill with a glance
another name for basilisk (def. 1)

Word Origin for cockatrice

C14: from Old French cocatris, from Medieval Latin cocatrix, from Late Latin calcātrix trampler, tracker (translating Greek ikhneumon ichneumon), from Latin calcāre to tread, from calx heel