Category:Cockatrice

Cock"a*trice, n. Etym: [OF. cocatrice crocodile, F. cocatrix, cocatrice. The word is a corruption from the same source as E. crocodile, but was confused with cock the bird, F. coq, whence arose the fable that the animal was produced from a cock's egg. See Crocodile.]

1. A fabulous serpent whose breath and look were said to be fatal. See Basilisk. That bare vowel, I, shall poison more Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice. Shak.

2. (Her.)

Defn: A representation of this serpent. It has the head, wings, and legs of a bird, and tail of a serpent.

3. (Script.)

4. Any venomous or deadly thing. This little cockatrice of a king. Bacon.

cockatrice Cock"a*trice (-tris; 277), n. [OF. cocatrice crocodile, F. cocatrix, cocatrice. The word is a corruption from the same source as E. crocodile, but was confused with cock the bird, F. coq, whence arose the fable that the animal was produced from a cock's egg. See Crocodile.]

1. A fabulous serpent whose breath and look were said to be fatal. See Basilisk.

That bare vowel, I, shall poison more Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice. Shak.

2. (Her.) A representation of this serpent. It has the head, wings, and legs of a bird, and tail of a serpent.

3. (Script.) A venomous serpent which which cannot now be identified.

4. Any venomous or deadly thing.

This little cockatrice of a king. Bacon.

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Cockatrice - The mediaeval name (a corruption of of "crocodile") of a fabulous serpent supposed to be produced from a cock's egg. It is generally supposed to denote the cerastes, or "horned viper," a very poisonous serpent about a foot long. Others think it to be the yellow viper (Daboia xanthina), one of the most dangerous vipers, from its size and its nocturnal habits (Isaiah 11:8; Isaiah 14:29; Isaiah 59:5; Jeremiah 8:17; in all which the Revised Version renders the Hebrew tziphoni by "basilisk"). In Proverbs 23:32 the Hebrew tzeph'a is rendered both in the Authorized Version and the Revised Version by "adder;" margin of Revised Version "basilisk," and of Authorized Version "cockatrice."