handedness

American  

[han-did-nis] / ˈhæn dɪd nɪs /

noun

1. a tendency to use one hand more than the other.

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handedness British  

/ ˈhændɪdnɪs /

noun

1. the tendency to use one hand more skilfully or in preference to the other

2. the property of some chemical substances of rotating the plane of polarized light in one direction rather than another See also dextrorotation laevorotation

3. the relation between the vectors of spin and momentum of neutrinos and certain other elementary particles See also helicity

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handedness Scientific  

/ hăn′dĭd-nĭs /

1. A preference for using one hand rather than the other to perform most manual tasks and activities. Most people are right-handed. Historically, it has been theorized that handedness is associated with a dominance of the opposite cerebral hemisphere of the brain, but this has not been conclusively proven. Although the scientific basis for handedness is unknown, the fact that left-handed parents more frequently have left-handed offspring suggests at least a partial genetic component. Some experts believe that children are trained to favor one hand over the other (usually the right hand.). Handedness is usually established in the first few years of life.

2. See chirality

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Etymology

Origin of handedness

First recorded in 1920–25; handed + -ness

Example Sentences

When the two photonic crystal layers are brought close together and rotated, the structure becomes geometrically chiral and capable of detecting the handedness of incoming light.

From Science Daily • Mar. 21, 2026

Now, researchers at Penn State have made the material potentially more useful by imparting chirality -- or handedness -- on it, which could make for advanced sensors and implantable medical devices.

From Science Daily • May 7, 2024

"The memory devices based on the handedness of the helimagnets, free from the crosstalk among bits, could pave a new pathway for improving the memory density," says Masuda.

From Science Daily • Mar. 22, 2024

This leads to the formation of pure chiral peptides with the same "L" handedness.

From Science Daily • Jan. 24, 2024

No, it was meant to determine if you were right brained or left brained, usually connoted by handedness.

From "Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story" by Nora Raleigh Baskin