chimera
noun /kaɪˈmɪərə/
/kaɪˈmɪrə/
(also chimaera)
- (in ancient Greek stories) a creature with a lion's head, a goat's body and a snake’s tail that can breathe out fire
- (formal) an impossible idea or hope
- (biology) an organism (= a living thing) that contains a mixture of genetically different tissues
Word Originlate Middle English: via Latin from Greek khimaira ‘she-goat or chimera’.