chiral

adj

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰes- Proto-Indo-European *-ōr Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰésōr Proto-Hellenic *kʰéhər Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír) Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al English chiral From Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír, “hand”) + English -al.

1. that 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.”