Unicorn or Uni-horn???

[question4171]

Why are unicorns called unicorns... they should be called unihorns as they have one (uni) horn. Any suggestions???

[Postdog]

No, but just to add, why are butterfies called butterflies, when what they actually do is FLUTTER BY.

[kettledrum]

It comes from the latin - cornu = horn

[Loosehead]

Interestingly, postdog, Butterfly is an example of an early spoonerism that stuck, they originally where called Flutterbys

[Quizmonster]

It's a lovely story that claims the word �butterfly' comes from the fact that one may be seen to �flutter by'. ..ie that it is just a metathesis or letter-swop along Spoonerish lines.
Sadly that's all it is...a story. Even in Old English days, the words �butter' and �fly' were joined to create �butorfleoge' as the creature's name. There may be a connection with a Dutch dialect word for butterfly...�boterschijte', which suggests a relationship between butter and butterfly excrement, both being yellow. Unfortunately - though probably more accurate - that's not quite such a pretty picture as flutter-by!
Another theory is that �butor' was also the Old English name for the finest of pasture-land. Obviously, many butterflies would be attracted to such grass and the cattle on it would produce the finest of butter...hence the name of the dairy product.
A strange thing is the fact that the word �butterfly' itself seems to come from different roots in each of the other four major European languages...French = papillon, Italian = farfalla, Spanish = mariposa and German = Schmetterling.

[Catso]

It's a contraction of unique horn.

(Just kidding)

[brachiopod]

Arhh yes, the unicorn or Monoceras mythicalis to give it its scientific name. Common in the middle to late Miocene until becoming extinct at the start of the Pleistocene.

Scientific name from the Greek 'mono-' one and 'ceras' horn.

[Tymless]

Unicorn refers to a person medically diagnosed with one corn, Then, there is Duecorn, Trecorn, and so on.
More than three corns and the foot is amputated. -

-Encyc.Med.Malpractice-