Wordsmith.org: the magic of words


A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact  


Home

Today's Word

Subscribe

Archives



Jun 17, 2022
This week’s theme
Eponyms

This week’s words
Orphean
Proteus
eolian
panderer
chimeric

chimeric
Photo: mhobl

This week’s comments
AWADmail 1042

Next week’s theme
Autological words
Bookmark and Share Facebook Twitter Digg MySpace Bookmark and Share
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

chimeric

PRONUNCIATION:
(KY/KI-mer-ik)

MEANING:
adjective:
1. Made up of parts that are very different.
2. Fanciful; imaginative; illusory.

ETYMOLOGY:
After Chimera, a fire-breathing female monster in Greek mythology who had a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail. From Greek khimaira (she-goat), ultimately from the Indo-European root ghei- (winter), which also gave us chimera (literally, a female animal that is one winter, or one year old), hibernate, and the Himalayas, from Sanskrit him (snow) + alaya (abode). Earliest documented use: 1655.

USAGE:
“And yet ‘The Snow Leopard’ manages to convey the impression of being subtly yet fundamentally about its stated subject matter, albeit in some chimeric way -- part literal, part figurative.”
Kathryn Schulz; Cat Tales; The New Yorker; Jul 12, 2021.

See more usage examples of chimeric in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The ultimate sense of security will be when we come to recognize that we are all part of one human race. Our primary allegiance is to the human race and not to one particular color or border. I think the sooner we renounce the sanctity of these many identities and try to identify ourselves with the human race the sooner we will get a better world and a safer world. -Mohamed ElBaradei, diplomat, Nobel laureate (b. 17 Jun 1942)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith