chiral

C3H4I1R1A1L1
/ˈkaɪɹəl/

adjective

that exhibits chirality; as in the left-handed and right-handed versions of a helix, or a molecule with L- and D- stereoisomers.

Similar
handed
OriginProto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír) ← Proto-Hellenic *kʰéhər →
Less commonScrabble 11
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectivechiral (not comparable)
  1. not comparablephysicalchemistrythat exhibits chirality; as in the left-handed and right-handed versions of a helix, or a molecule with L- and D- stereoisomers.

    In the close vicinity of a chiral nanostructure, the circular dichroism of a biomolecule could be greatly enhanced, due to the interaction with the local superchiral fields.

    2016, S. Hamed Shams Mousavi, Sajanlal R. Panikkanvalappil, Mostafa A. El-Sayed, Ali A. Eftekhar, Ali Adibi, “Large Enhancement of Circular Dichroism Using an Embossed Chiral Metamaterial”, in arXiv

    Synonyms: handed

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivethat exhibits chirality; as in the left-handed and right-handed versions of a helix, or a molecule with L- and D- stereoisomers.

Similar
handed
Also see
handed

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰes-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰésōr
  3. Proto-Hellenic*kʰéhər
  4. Ancient Greekχείρ (kheír)
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  7. Englishchiral

From Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír, “hand”) + English -al.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan quiral
  • quiralthat exhibits chirality
Chinese Mandarin 手性
  • 手性 (shǒuxìng)that exhibits chirality
Czech chirální
  • chirálníthat exhibits chirality
Esperanto ĥirala
  • ĥiralathat exhibits chirality
Finnish kiraalinen
  • kiraalinenthat exhibits chirality
French chiral
  • chiralthat exhibits chirality
German chiral
  • chiralthat exhibits chirality
Greek χειραλικός
  • χειραλικός (cheiralikós)that exhibits chirality
Indonesian kiral
  • kiralthat exhibits chirality
Italian chirale
  • chiralethat exhibits chirality
Polish chiralny
  • chiralnythat exhibits chirality
Portuguese quiral
  • quiralthat exhibits chirality
Spanish quiral
  • quiralthat exhibits chirality
Turkish aynal, kiral
  • aynalthat exhibits chirality
  • kiralthat exhibits chirality

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with chiral

viralspiralachiralaquareoviralgyraloncoviralretiral
All rhymes →

Anagrams

Charli
Cite this entry
APA

chiral. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chiral

MLA

“chiral.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chiral. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chiral,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chiral.

Source: chiral on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.