# chimera

> English word · Noun · IPA /kaɪˈmɪɹə/ · frequency rank #34,823

## Definitions
1. Alternative letter-case form of Chimera, a supposed monster in Lycia with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a dragon or serpent, killed by the hero Bellerophon.
2. Any fantastic creature combining parts from different animals.
3. A foolish, incongruous, or vain thought or product of the imagination.
4. Anything composed of very disparate parts.
5. A grotesque like a gargoyle, but without a spout for rainwater.
6. An organism with genetically distinct cells originating from two or more zygotes.
7. Alternative form of chimaera, a cartilaginous marine fish in the subclass Holocephali and especially the order Chimaeriformes, with a blunt snout, long tail, and a spine before the first dorsal fin.
8. Synonym of bogeyman: any terrifying thing, especially as an unreal, imagined threat.

## Etymology
Variant of Middle English chimere, chymere, & chymera under renewed Latin influence from the 16th century, from French chimère, from Latin Chimaera, from Ancient Greek Χίμαιρα (Khímaira, “fire-breathing mythological monster, fire-spewing Lycian or Cilician mountain”), from χίμαιρα (khímaira, “she-goat”, from χίμαρος (khímaros, “male goat”) + -α (-a)), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey-. In reference to the fish, directly from Latin Chimaera, used by Linnaeus. In reference to organisms with distinct areas of different genetic makeups, a calque of German Chimäre, used by Hans Winkler in 1907.

## Easily confused with
- **Crimea** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chimera-vs-crimea)
- **chimes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chimera-vs-chimes)
- **cholera** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chimera-vs-cholera)
- **chime** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chime-vs-chimera)
- **camera** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/camera-vs-chimera)
- **chimed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chimed-vs-chimera)
- **Chiara** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chiara-vs-chimera)

## Common misspellings (10)
`cchimera`, `chhimera`, `chiemra`, `chimear`, `chimerra`, `chimmera`, `chimrea`, `chmiera`, `cihmera`, `hcimera`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/chimera