chimera
or chi·mae·ra
[ki-meer-uh, kahy-]
noun, plural chi·me·ras.
(often initial capital letter) a mythological, fire-breathing monster, commonly represented with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.
any similarly grotesque monster having disparate parts, especially as depicted in decorative art.
a horrible or unreal creature of the imagination; a vain or idle fancy: He is far different from the chimera your fears have made of him.
Genetics. an organism composed of two or more genetically distinct tissues, as an organism that is partly male and partly female, or an artificially produced individual having tissues of several species.
Origin of chimera
1350–1400; Middle English chimera < Latin chimaera < Greek chímaira she-goat; akin to Old Norse gymbr, English gimmer ewe-lamb one year (i.e., one winter) old, Latin hiems winter (see hiemal), Greek cheimṓn winter
Synonyms for chimera
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for chimera
rainbow, monster, fabrication, delusion, hallucination, fancy, illusion, figment, mirage, monstrosity, snare, bubble, specter, bogyExamples from the Web for chimera
Contemporary Examples of chimera
Historical Examples of chimera
He can not easily believe it to be simply a chimera of an overwrought brain.
Oswald LangdonCarson Jay Lee
The chimera and other animal monsters occur only as figments of the mind.
The Classification of PatentsUnited States Patent Office
Ah, that woman in the mask, that chimera of a night, that fancy of an hour!
The Lure of the MaskHarold MacGrath
Do not delude me with a chimera, and above all do not tempt me to sacrifice my honour to it.
Samuel Brohl & CompanyVictor Cherbuliez
For it was evident that to them, this chimera was still real.
Fantazius MallareBen Hecht
chimera
chimaera
noun
Word Origin for chimera
C16: from Latin chimaera, from Greek khimaira she-goat, from khimaros he-goat
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
chimera
[kī-mîr′ə, kĭ-]
n.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
chimera
[(keye-meer-uh, ki-meer-uh)]
Note
Figuratively, a “chimera” is a creation of the imagination, especially a wild creation.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.