chimera Hear it!

chimera definition

chi·mera (kī mirə, ki-)

noun

  1. Gr. Myth. a fire-breathing monster, usually represented as having a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail
  2. any similar fabulous monster
  3. an impossible or foolish fancy
  4. Biol. an organism having two or more genetically distinct types of cells due to mutation, grafting, etc.

Etymology: ME & OFr < L chimaera < Gr chimaira, fabulous monster, orig., she-goat that has passed one winter < cheima, winter: see hibernate

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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