cockatrice

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cockatrice basilisk XIV; (her.) hybrid of cock and serpent XVI. — OF. cocatris — medL. calcātrix, cau- (fem. agent-noun f. calcāre tread, (later) track, f. calx heel) used to render Gr. ikhneúmōn, ICHNEUMON, lit, ‘tracker’. OF. cocatris came to denote the crocodile; by a further (obscure) transference cockatrice was applied in English translations of the Bible to the basilisk; assoc. with COCK 1 produced the her. sense.

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