Chimera

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kaɪˈmɪɹə/

Definitions

1. A fantastical beast from legend, often portrayed with parts of various animals, represents a complex fabrication or unattainable vision that is ultimately elusive and unreal
2. This creature of mythology combines elements from different species in an imaginative form, signifying a dream or aspiration that is more fantasy than reality
3. A legendary monster composed of parts from multiple animals, typically fire-breathing and fearsome ; a fanciful or unrealistic hope or notion that cannot be achieved

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "chimera" is that its original meaning was a literal animal, and a specific one at that. The Greek "khímaira" meant "she-goat," built from "khímaros," "male goat." In Greek myth the Chimera was a fire-breathing beast with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail, and it was said to ravage the mountains of Lycia and Cilicia in Asia Minor until it was slain. The Latin "Chimaera" carried the monster into European languages, and French "chimère" passed it on to English, where Middle English had earlier forms like "chimere" and "chymera." Renewed Latin influence from the 16th century restored the classical spelling. The word's sense of an unreal fancy grew from the monster itself, since a creature assembled from incompatible parts makes a natural image for an impossible notion. Two later scientific uses keep the idea of mixed parts. Linnaeus applied the Latin name to a genus of cartilaginous fish, and in 1907 Hans Winkler, borrowing from German "Chimäre," used the term for an organism whose body contains tissues of differing genetic makeup.

Synonyms: illusion, fantasy, dream, mirage, delusion

Antonyms: reality, fact, truth, certainty, veracity