different between chimera vs aberration

English

Etymology

From Middle English chimere, from French chimère, from Latin chimaera, from Ancient Greek ??????? (khímaira, “chimera; female goat”), from ??????? (khímaros, “male goat”), from Proto-Indo-European *g?ei-. The Latin form has become more common from the 16th century.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k???m????/, /k?-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ka??mi???/, /ka??m???/
• Hyphenation: chi?me?ra

Noun

chimera (plural chimeras)

1. (Greek mythology) Alternative letter-case form of Chimera (a flame-spewing monster often represented as having two heads, one of a goat and the other of a lion; the body of a goat; and a serpent as a tail).
2. (mythology) Any fantastic creature with parts from different animals.
3. Anything composed of very disparate parts.
4. A foolish, incongruous, or vain thought or product of the imagination.
   • 1818, anonymous [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, London: Printed for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, ?OCLC; republished as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus […] In Two Volumes, volume I, new (2nd) edition, London: Printed for G. and W. B. Whittaker, Ave-Maria-Lane, 1823, ?OCLC, page 71:

     It was very different, when the masters of the science sought immortality and power; such views, although futile, were grand: but now the scene was changed. The ambition of the inquirer seemed to limit itself to the annihilation of those visions on which my interest in science was chiefly founded. I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth.
5. (architecture) A grotesque like a gargoyle, but without a spout for rainwater.
6. (genetics) An organism with genetically distinct cells originating from two or more zygotes.
7. Usually chimaera: a cartilaginous marine fish in the subclass Holocephali and especially the order Chimaeriformes, with a blunt snout, long tail, and a spine before the first dorsal fin.

Alternative forms

• chimaera
• chimæra

Synonyms

• (fish): ghost shark, rabbitfish, ratfish
• (anything composed of very disparate parts): motley crew

Antonyms

• (anything composed of very disparate parts): monolith

Derived terms

Related terms

• Chimaera
• chimere

Translations

See also

• Appendix:Glossary of architecture

References

Further reading

• chimera (mythology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• chimera (genetics) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Chimaera on Wikipedia.Wikipedia (fish)
• chimera (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• haremic

Italian

Etymology

From Latin chimaera, from Ancient Greek ??????? (Khímaira).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ki?me.ra/

Noun

chimera f (plural chimere)

1. chimera
2. chimera, a kind of shark of the genus Chimaera

English

Etymology

A learned borrowing from Latin aberr?ti? (“relief, diversion”), first attested in 1594 , from aberr? (“wander away, go astray”), from ab (“away”) + err? (“wander”). Compare French aberration. Equivalent to aberrate +? -ion.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?æb.???e?.?n?/

Noun

aberration (countable and uncountable, plural aberrations)

1. The act of wandering; deviation from truth, moral rectitude; abnormal; divergence from the straight, correct, proper, normal, or from the natural state. [Late 16^th century.]
2. (optics) The convergence to different foci, by a lens or mirror, of rays of light emanating from one and the same point, or the deviation of such rays from a single focus; a defect in a focusing mechanism that prevents the intended focal point. [Mid 18^th century.]
3. (astronomy) A small periodical change of position in the stars and other heavenly bodies, due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer. [Mid 18^th century.]
   1. (astronomy, by extension) The tendency of light rays to preferentially strike the leading face of a moving object (the effect underlying the above phenomenon).
4. A partial alienation of reason. [Early 19^th century.]
5. A mental disorder, especially one of a minor or temporary character. [Early 19^th century.]
6. (zoology, botany) Atypical development or structure; deviation from the normal type; an aberrant organ. [Mid 19^th century.]
7. (medicine) A deviation of a tissue, organ or mental functions from what is considered to be within the normal range.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

References

French

Etymology

From Latin aberrationem, aberratio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.b?.?a.sj??/

Noun

aberration f (plural aberrations)

1. aberration
2. the state of being aberrant
3. (astronomy) aberration
4. (optics) aberration
5. (physiology) aberration or mutation

Related terms

• aberrer

Further reading

• “aberration” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• abornerait, arboraient