Etymology

racemic

R1A1C3E1M3I1C3

Today it means: Containing equal amounts of dextrorotatory (+) and levorotatory (−) stereoisomers and therefore not optically active. Full definition →

French racémique ← Latin racēmus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromracēmus“cluster or bunch of grapes”
  2. French · borrowed fromracémique
  3. English todayracemic

From French racémique, from Latin racēmus (“cluster or bunch of grapes”) + -ique or from raceme + -ic. The name came from racemic acid, which was isolated from grapes.

Words from the same roots

Latinracēmus all →

raisinraceme

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.