Meanings
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1
noun
a legendary monster with features of a rooster and serpent, traditionally said to kill with its gaze
The manuscript depicts a cockatrice with a rooster's head and a serpent's body.
Thesaurus
Word family
Derived forms
chickatrice
Related forms
cockentrice
Etymology
First attested 1382 as Middle English cocatrice (“basilisk”), from Old French cocatriz, from Late Latin calcātrīx (“she who treads upon something”), from Latin calcō (“tread”), from calx (“heel, hoof”).