chimera

Meaning

1. (Greek, alt-of) Alternative letter-case form of Chimera, a supposed monster in Lycia with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a dragon or serpent, killed by the hero Bellerophon.
2. Any fantastic creature combining parts from different animals.
3. (figuratively) A foolish, incongruous, or vain thought or product of the imagination.
4. (figuratively) Anything composed of very disparate parts.
5. A grotesque like a gargoyle, but without a spout for rainwater.
6. An organism with genetically distinct cells originating from two or more zygotes.
7. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of chimaera, a cartilaginous marine fish in the subclass Holocephali and especially the order Chimaeriformes, with a blunt snout, long tail, and a spine before the first dorsal fin.
8. (figuratively) Synonym of bogeyman: any terrifying thing, especially as an unreal, imagined threat.

Synonyms

chimaera

mirage

fancy

fantasy

figment

hallucination

ideology

illusion

mosaic

reverie

utopia

vain fancy

daydream

vain imagination

delusion

fantasize

Translations

chimère

quimera

quimera

chimera

quimera

Chimäre

χίμαιρα

hersenschim

Schimäre

chimera

inbeelding

chimaera

chimère

quimèra

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kaɪˈmɪɹə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: chimere

In summary

Variant of Middle English chimere, chymere, & chymera under renewed Latin influence from the 16th century, from French chimère, from Latin Chimaera, from Ancient Greek Χίμαιρα (Khímaira, “fire-breathing mythological monster, fire-spewing Lycian or Cilician mountain”), from χίμαιρα (khímaira, “she-goat”, from χίμαρος (khímaros, “male goat”) + -α (-a)), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey-. In reference to the fish, directly from Latin Chimaera, used by Linnaeus. In reference to organisms with distinct areas of different genetic makeups, a calque of German Chimäre, used by Hans Winkler in 1907.