chiral

CEFRC1

/ˈkaɪɹəl/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Having a shape that cannot match its mirror image exactly.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    that exhibits chirality; as in the left-handed and right-handed versions of a helix, or a molecule with L- and D- stereoisomers.

Examples

  • Chemists studied the chiral molecules to understand their reactions.

  • The chiral molecule has a unique structure.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
2
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

More examples

In context

  • Chiral compounds are used in medicine.

  • In the close vicinity of a chiral nanostructure, the circular dichroism of a biomolecule could be greatly enhanced, due to the interaction with the local superchiral fields.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank molecule cannot be superimposed on its mirror image.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír, “hand”) + English -al.