chimaera








noun

  1. any fish of the family Chimaeridae, the male of which has a spiny clasping organ over the mouth.
  2. any similar fish of the group Holocephali, which includes this family.
  3. chimera.

noun, plural chi·me·ras.

  1. (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.
  2. any similarly grotesque monster having disparate parts, especially 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.

noun

  1. any tapering smooth-skinned cartilaginous deep-sea fish of the subclass Holocephali (or Bradyodonti), esp any of the genus Chimaera. They have a skull in which the upper jaw is fused to the craniumSee also rabbitfish (def. 1)
  2. Greek myth a variant spelling of chimera (def. 1)

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
n.

fabulous monster, late 14c., from Old French chimere or directly from Medieval Latin chimera, from Latin Chimaera, from Greek khimaira, name of a mythical creature, slain by Bellerophon, with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail (supposedly personification of snow or winter); literally “year-old she-goat” (masc. khimaros), from kheima “winter season” (see hibernation). Figurative meaning “wild fantasy” first recorded 1580s in English (attested 13c. in French).

Beestis clepid chymeres, that han a part of ech beest, and suche ben not, no but oonly in opynyoun. [Wyclif, “Prologue”]

n.

  1. One who has received a transplant of genetically and immunologically different tissue.
  2. Twins with two immunologically different types of red blood cells.

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.

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