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

"As in organic systems, such as the twisting of DNA or the handedness of amino acids, these extra-dimensional structures can possess torsion, a kind of intrinsic twist," explains Pincak.

From Science Daily • Dec. 15, 2025

One of them had to be circularly polarized in one direction, and the other needed to be the second harmonic of the first beam, polarized with the opposite handedness.

From Science Daily • Apr. 24, 2024

"Chirality, or handedness, as a design feature has not been utilized enough in nanoparticle research and is a way to make the particles move in more and more complex ways."

From Science Daily • Dec. 12, 2023

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