Word of the Day – Chimaera

Chimaera (noun) (also Chimera)

kai-mee-ra

(in Greek mythology) a fire-breathing female monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail. (modern biology) An organism containing a mixture of genetically different tissues, formed by processes such as fusion of early embryos, grafting, or mutation.

Late Middle English: via Latin from Greek khimaira ‘she-goat or chimaera’.

Example sentences

‘She notes that in Greek mythology, that third was known as a chimaera.’

“Fusing with her unborn twin had given her DNA the qualities of a chimaera.”