chiral
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of chiral
1894; chir- < Greek cheír hand + -al 1; coined by Lord Kelvin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In organic chemistry, this property is known as "chirality", so chiral molecules have both right and left-handed forms.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Researchers have found that structures based on the shape can make light form unusual chiral patterns, pointing to new ways of exploring how geometry can influence optical behavior.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
Like many organic compounds, they are chiral, meaning they exist in two mirror image forms called enantiomers.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
For the first time, they successfully separated the chiral forms of both pristane and phytane, despite the molecules being extremely unreactive.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
For the first time, researchers demonstrated that chiral phonons can directly transfer orbital angular momentum to electrons in a non-magnetic material.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2026
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