chimera

or chi·mae·ra

[ kahy-meer-uh ]

noun

, plural chi·me·ras.

1. Often Chimera. Greek Mythology. a fire-breathing monster, commonly represented with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.
2. any grotesque monster having disparate parts, as depicted or described in art, legend, fantasy fiction, video games, etc.
3. a strange, horrible, or impossible idea or figment of the imagination:

   He is far different from the chimera your fears have made of him.

   Without equality, unity is a chimera.

   Synonyms: delusion, fantasy, dream

4. anything created by taking parts or aspects of different kinds of things and combining them:

   We are like an audio-art chimera, in that we act as part literary journal, part music showcase, and part storytelling podcast.

5. Genetics. an organism composed of two or more genetically distinct tissues, such as one produced artificially by combining cells or tissues from different species:

   Chimeras were generated by splicing West Nile and Zika viruses into the genetic backbone of two different insect-specific viruses.

adjective

1. being or relating to a chimera or chimeras:

   The chimera embryos used in this research are sheep embryos containing human cells.

chimera

/ kɪ-; kaɪˈmɪərə /

noun

1. often capital Greek myth a fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a serpent
2. a fabulous beast made up of parts taken from various animals
3. a wild and unrealistic dream or notion
4. biology an organism, esp a cultivated plant, consisting of at least two genetically different kinds of tissue as a result of mutation, grafting, etc

chimera

1. A monster in classical mythology who had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon or serpent.

Notes

Figuratively, a “chimera” is a creation of the imagination, especially a wild creation.

Other Words From

• chi·mer·ic chi·maer·ic adjective
• chi·mer·ism chi·maer·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of chimera¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English chimera, from Latin chimaera, from Greek chímaira “she-goat,” from chímaros “he-goat,” perhaps originally “animal one winter old”; akin to Old Norse gymbr, English gimmer “ewe-lamb one year (i.e., one winter) old,” Latin hiems “winter” ( hiemal ), Greek cheîma “winter cold” ( isocheim )

Word History and Origins

Origin of chimera¹

C16: from Latin chimaera, from Greek khimaira she-goat, from khimaros he-goat

Example Sentences

It calls for rooting out “waste, fraud, and abuse,” that all-purpose chimera evoked by budget-cutters as a painless way of reducing costs, but which no one ever seems to accomplish.

From Los Angeles Times

Also known as a spookfish or chimera, ghost sharks are closely related to sharks and rays.

From BBC

The fact is that the subcommittee has wasted nearly a year and a half chasing a chimera.

From Los Angeles Times

This approach, which involves generating only skin tissue, could help avoid ethical concerns about using human-animal chimeras to produce organs for medical use.

From Science Daily

Freud, who catalyzed the study of dreams with his foundational 1899 treatise, would have discounted this as a mere chimera of the wishful unconscious.

From New York Times