Chimera
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Chimera on a red-figure Apulian plate, c. 350–340 B.C.E. (Musée du Louvre) 
"Chimera of Arezzo": an Etruscan bronze
Chimera
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
As the mythological beast, a variant case form of chimera, q.v. As an ancient mountain, directly from Latin mons Chimaera (“Mount Chimera”), from Ancient Greek Χίμαιρα (Khímaira), attested in Strabo.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /kaɪˈmɪɹə/, /kəˈmɪɹə/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kʌɪˈmɪəɹə/, /kɪˈmɪəɹə/
Proper noun
Chimera
- (Greek mythology) A supposed fire-breathing monster in Lycia with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a dragon or snake, killed by the hero Bellerophon.
- 1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., Vol. II, p. 184:
- (geography, Ancient Greece) A fire-spewing mountain in Lycia or Cilicia, presumed to be an ancient name for the Yanartaş region of Turkey's Antalya Province.
- 1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., Vol. II, p. 184:
- CHIMERA... The foundation of the fable was, that in Lycia there was a burning mountain, or vulcano, of this name; that the top of this mountain was ſeldom without lions, nor the middle, which had very good graſs, without goats; that ſerpents bred at the bottom, which was marſhy; and that Bellerophon rendered the mountain habitable.
- 1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., Vol. II, p. 184:
- (historical) Former name of Himara, a port town in southern Albania.
- 1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., Vol. II, p. 184:
- (historical) Former name of Ceraunian Mountains, the Albanian mountain range near Himara.
Coordinate terms
Translations
Greek myth: monster killed by Bellerophon
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References
- “chimera | chimaera, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2022.
Anagrams
Polish
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Alternative forms
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin Chimaera, from Ancient Greek Χίμαιρα (Khímaira).
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Chimera f
Declension
Declension of Chimera
Related terms
adjectives
adverb
nouns
verbs
- chimerować impf
- schimerować pf