chiral

[kahy-ruhl] Origin

chi·ral

[kahy-ruhl]
adjective Chemistry.
(of a molecule) not superimposable on its mirror image.

Origin:
1894; chir- < Greek cheír hand + -al1; coined by Lord Kelvin

chi·ral·i·ty [kahy-ral-i-tee] , noun
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Chiral is always a great word to know.
So is fluoride. Does it mean:
a chemical that consumes or renders inactive the impurities in a mixture
a salt of hydrofluoric acid consisting of fluorine, as sodium fluoride, NaF, or a compound containing fluorine, as methyl fluoride, CH3F
Collins
World English Dictionary
chirality (kaɪˈrælɪtɪ)
 
n
Also called: dissymmetry the configuration or handedness (left or right) of an asymmetric, optically active chemical compound
 
[C19: from Greek kheir hand + -al1 + -ity]
 
'chiral
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

chiral
1894, coined by Lord Kelvin from Gk. kheir "hand."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

chiral chi·ral (kī'rəl)
adj.
Of or relating to the structural characteristic of a molecule that makes it impossible to superimpose it on its mirror image.


chi·ral'i·ty (kī-rāl'ĭ-tē) n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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