chimera

/ki mear"euh, kuy-/, n., pl. chimeras.

1. (often cap.) a mythological, fire-breathing monster, commonly represented with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.

2. any similarly grotesque monster having disparate parts, esp. as depicted in decorative art.

3. 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.

4. 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.

Also, chimaera.

[1350-1400; ME chimera < L chimaera < Gk chímaira she-goat; akin to ON gymbr, E gimmer ewe-lamb one year (i.e., one winter) old, L hiems winter (see HIEMAL), Gk cheimón winter]

Syn. 3. dream, fantasy, delusion.

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In Greek mythology, a fire-breathing female monster.

Its foreparts resembled a lion, its middle a goat, and its hindquarters a dragon. It devastated the land around Caria and Lycia until it was killed by Bellerophon. The word is now often used to denote a fantasy or a figment of the imagination.

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▪ Greek mythology

      in Greek mythology, a fire-breathing female monster resembling a lion in the forepart, a goat in the middle, and a dragon behind. She devastated Caria and Lycia until she was slain by Bellerophon. In art the Chimera is usually represented as a lion with a goat's head in the middle of its back and with a tail that ends in a snake's head. This matches the description found in Hesiod's Theogony (7th century BC). The word is now used generally to denote a fantastic idea or figment of the imagination.

      Chimera, or chimère, in architecture, is a term loosely used for any grotesque, fantastic, or imaginary beast used in decoration.

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