| 释义 |
chi·me·ra
noun
or chi·mae·ra \kīˈmirə, -mē- also kə̇-\
(-s)
Etymology: Latin chimaera, from Greek chimaira chimera, she-goat; akin to Old Norse gymbr yearling ewe, Latin bimus two years (winters) old, hiems winter — more at hibernate
1.
a. usually capitalized : a she-monster in Greek mythology represented as vomiting flames and usually as having a lion's head, goat's body, and dragon's or serpent's tail or a lion's body and head together with a goat's head rising from the back — compare gryllus
b. : a similar imaginary monster; specifically : a grotesque animal form in painting or sculpture compounded from parts of different real or imaginary animals
c. : a horrible or frightening manifestation
d. : an often fantastic combination of incongruous parts, especially a fabrication
2. : an illusion or fabrication of the mind or fancy
< that unintelligible chimera — substance — Frank Thilly >
especially : a utopian or unrealizable dream or aim
< concluded that the democratic hope of rational policy … was a chimera — C.B.Forcey >
< universal justice and equality … were chimeras one could chase for generations and never capture — Victor Canning >
3. : an individual, organ, or part consisting of tissues of diverse genetic constitution occurring especially in plants and most frequently at a graft union, the tissues from both stock and cion retaining their distinctness in the chimera — see mericlinal, periclinal, sectorial |