So many mythological animals live on in literature, in our minds, and in our imagination, that they would fill a virtual zoo.
Because these creatures are myths, they're not bound by biological rules. Sometimes they're part human, part animal. They could have a human head and an animal body, or vice versa. These permutations and combinations of body parts make it look as though the gods were playing a mix-n-match game of combining parts to make composites. At times, one of these mythical animals had more than a single head. Enjoy looking at the menagerie this week and feel free to use their attributes metaphorically in situations in your life. chimera (ki-MEER-uh, ky-) noun 1. A fanciful fabrication; illusion. 2. An organism having genetically different tissues. [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) that is the ancestor of words such as chimera (literally a female animal that is one winter, or one year old), hibernate, and the Himalayas, from Sanskrit him (snow) + alaya (abode).] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=chimera -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The government subsidies [for bio-fuel] may quickly dry up once policymakers face up to the reality of their euphoric chimera, and food shortages threaten political stability and national security." Abdullah A. Dewan; Fuel Versus Food; The Daily Star (Dhaka, Bangladesh); Apr 24, 2008. Sponsored by: orijinz is a hit! "Great, great, GREAT word game!" "So much Fun" "infectious" A great Mother's day gift! Only $14.95. http://entspire.com Free! Extra issue of any of Champs-Elysees Audio Magazines in French, German, Italian and Spanish. Subscribe at: http://web.champs-elysees.com/wsmith7 ............................................................................ My poverty is not complete: it lacks me. -Antonio Porchia, writer (1886-1968) Discuss this week's words on our bulletin board: http://wordsmith.org/board Remove, change address, gift subs: http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/chimera.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/chimera.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/chimera.html This message was sent to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]".
