noun · rare

cockatrice

cockatrice · cockatrices

A monster with a lethal gaze or breath, originally believed to originate from a cock…A monster with a lethal gaze or breath, originally believed to originate from a cock egg brooded over by a snake or toad, later specifically combining serpentine and landfowl features and particularly (heraldry) a rooster-headed wyvern.

/ˈkɒkətɹaɪs/

Meaning

5 senses

A monster with a lethal gaze or breath, originally believed to originate from a cock egg brooded over by a snake or toad, later specifically combining serpentine and landfowl features and particularly (heraldry) a rooster-headed wyvern.
(obsolete)Synonym of basilisk, a serpentine dragon so poisonous that even its gaze is deadly.
кокатриксkokatriks
(obsolete)Synonym of crocodile.
(archaic, derogatory)An evil, deceitful, or destructive person.
(archaic, derogatory)Synonym of whore, a female prostitute, a sexually promiscuous woman.

More definitions

monster hatched by a reptile from a cock's egg; able to kill with a glance

Translations

6 languages

Русский

legendary creature:

Origin

From Middle English cocatrice, from Old French cocatriz (“basilisk, cockatrice”), from Lat

From Middle English cocatrice, from Old French cocatriz (“basilisk, cockatrice”), from Late Latin calcātrīx (“female trampler, treader”), from Latin calcāre (“to trample, to walk upon, to oppress”) + -trīx (“-ess: forming feminine agentives”), from calx (“heel”). Its eventual association with poultry influenced by cock (“rooster, male chicken”), q.v.

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