Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Relating to or exhibiting chirality.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to the hand. See chirality.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of an object that exhibits chirality, as in the left-handed and right-handed versions of a helix.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[chir(o)– + –al.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ancient Greek χείρ (kheir, "hand").

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Examples

  • The word chiral comes from the Greek word cheir, which means hand.

    The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2001 - Information for the Public 2001

  • The term chiral is used to describe an object or molecule that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image, with the two objects being referred to as enantiomers.

    LabTechnologist RSS 2010

  • The term chiral is used to describe an object or molecule that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image, with the two objects being referred to as enantiomers.

    LabTechnologist RSS 2009

  • The term chiral is used to describe an object or molecule that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image, with the two objects being referred to as enantiomers.

    LabTechnologist RSS 2009

  • The term chiral is used to describe an object or molecule that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image, with the two objects being referred to as enantiomers.

    LabTechnologist RSS 2009

  • The term chiral is used to describe an object or molecule that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image, with the two objects being referred to as enantiomers.

    LabTechnologist RSS 2008

  • The term chiral is used to describe an object or molecule that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image, with the two objects being referred to as enantiomers.

    LabTechnologist RSS 2008

  • The term chiral is used to describe an object or molecule that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image, with the two objects being referred to as enantiomers.

    LabTechnologist RSS 2008

  • The term chiral is used to describe an object or molecule that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image, with the two objects being referred to as enantiomers.

    LabTechnologist RSS 2008

  • The word chiral derives from the Greek word ceir (cheir), meaning hand.

    The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2001 2001

  • Unlike typical alkenes, ABOs are chiral compounds — molecules that don’t perfectly match up with their mirror image.

    Chemists make ‘impossible’ molecules that break 100-year-old bonding rule Gemma Conroy 2024

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