Meanings
plural hectocorns
- businessA private startup with a valuation of US$100 billion or greater.
If Ant Financial is able to raise it’s $9B funding round at an expected $150B valuation it will become the first Hectocorn (or venture backed private company valued at over $100B) – a massive business by any standards, public or private.
2018 May 8, David Kellenberger, “Entering the Age of the Hectocorn”, in LinkedIn1 more example
You’ve probably heard of “unicorns” – technology startups valued at more than $1bn – but 2026 is shaping up to be the year of the “hectocorn”, with several US and European companies potentially floating on stock markets at valuations over $100bn (£75bn).
2026 January 22, Aisha Down, Dan Milmo, “The year of the ‘hectocorn’: the $100bn tech companies that could float in 2026”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
Origin
From hecto- (“hundred”) + -corn, by analogy with unicorn.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
hectocorn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hectocorn
“hectocorn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hectocorn. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hectocorn,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hectocorn.
Source: hectocorn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.