chimera.
chimera /kīˈmirə kəˈmirə / chimaera I. noun 1. (Chimera) — (in Greek mythology) a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail. 2. any mythical animal with parts taken from various animals. 3. a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve • the economic sovereignty you claim to defend is a chimera. 4. [Biology] an organism containing a mixture of genetically different tissues, formed by processes such as fusion of early embryos, grafting, or mutation • the sheeplike goat chimera. 5. a DNA molecule with sequences derived from two or more different organisms, formed by laboratory manipulation. 6. (usu. chimaera) — a cartilaginous marine fish with a long tail, an erect spine before the first dorsal fin, and typically a forward projection from the snout. [Subclass Hoplocephali: three families, in particular Chimaeridae. See also rabbitfish, ratfish.] II. derivatives 1. chimeric /kīˈmerik kəˈmerik / adjective 2. chimerical /kīˈmerək(ə)l kəˈmerək(ə)l / adjective 3. chimerically adverb – origin late Middle English…
