1. The condition of an organism composed of cells derived from two or more genetically distinct zygotes, resulting in tissues with different genetic makeup.
Usage: biology; medicine
2. The state of being a chimera; a mixture of incongruous or contradictory elements.
Usage: figurative

Examples

• Chimerism can occur naturally in humans when fraternal twins share a placenta and exchange cells.
• The patient's chimerism resulted from a bone marrow transplant, creating two distinct cell populations.
• Some women experience chimerism due to fetal cells persisting in their bloodstream after pregnancy.
• The researcher studied chimerism in the laboratory-created organism to understand genetic integration.
• His political philosophy represented a chimerism of opposing ideologies that seemed impossible to reconcile.