Chimeric

Chimeric
   , CHIMERICAL
   In today's language the adjective chimeric, or chimerical, means visionary, fantastic, unreal, or wildly improbable. The word stems from a mythological story of a she-monster named Chimera. This fire-breathing monster was represented as spewing flames and usually as having a lion's head, a goat's body, and a dragon's tail.
   Chimera's doom stemmed from the fury of a woman scorned. Chimera was ravaging Lycia, in Asia Minor, and King lobates sought a hero to destroy the monster. Coincidental with the king's search for a dragon slayer was the arrival of Bellerophon. He had been sent there with a scaled message from King Proteus of Argos demanding that Bellerophon be slain. King Proteus's wife had fallen in love with Bellerophon, but when he spurned her, she accused him of trying to seduce her. King Proteus was unwilling to kill him because he was a guest in Proteus's court. Hence his plan to have King lobates execute the letter-bearer. lobates figured out a good way to dispose of his guest and the Chimera simultaneously. He pitted Bellerophon against Chimera, fully expecting him to perish. But the ingenious youth had captured and tamed the winged Pegasus, surprised Chimera by riding above the dragon, and slew it with his bow and arrows.

Dictionary of eponyms. . 2013.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Chimeric — Chi*mer ic, a. Chimerical. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • chimeric — CHIMÉRIC, Ă adj. v. himeric. Trimis de LauraGellner, 05.11.2008. Sursa: DN …   Dicționar Român

  • Chiméric — Liste des personnages d Astérix le Gaulois Voici la liste des personnages de la bande dessinée Astérix le Gaulois par René Goscinny et Albert Uderzo, classés par ordre alphabétique. Sommaire 1 Personnages du village 1.1 Abraracourcix 1.2… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • chimeric — adjective Date: 1963 relating to, derived from, or being a genetic chimera or its genetic material < a chimeric cat > < chimeric genes > …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • chimeric — adjective /kɪˈmɛɹɪk,kaɪˈmɛɹɪk/ a) Like a chimera. Application of the technology for producing chimeric mice has given considerable insight into the way intestinal crypts are organized. b) Imaginary, fanciful. Chimeric embryos are made by… …   Wiktionary

  • chimeric — 1. Relating to a chimera. Cf.:mosaicism. 2. Composed of parts that are of different origin and are seemingly incompatible. * * * chi·me·ric kī mir ik, kə , mer adj relating to, derived from, or being a genetic chimera or its genetic material… …   Medical dictionary

  • chimeric — adjective being or relating to or like a chimera his Utopia is not as chimeric commonwealth but a practical improvement on what already exists Douglas Bush • Syn: ↑chimerical, ↑chimeral • Pertains to noun: ↑Chimera (for: ↑chimeral), ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • Chimeric gene — Chimeric genes form through the combination of portions of one or more coding sequences to produce new genes. These mutations are distinct from fusion genes which merge whole gene sequences into a single reading frame and often retain their… …   Wikipedia

  • Chimeric nuclease — Chimeric nucleases are an example of engineered proteins which must comprise a DNA binding domain to give sequence specificity and a nuclease domain for DNA cleavage. Contents 1 DNA binding domains 2 Nuclease domain 3 See also …   Wikipedia

  • Chimeric antigen receptor — Artificial T cell receptors (also known as chimeric T cell receptors, chimeric immunoreceptors, chimeric antigen receptors (CARs)) are engineered receptors, which graft an arbitrary specificity onto an immune effector cell. Typically, these… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”