Pronounced: aye-LOOR-uh-file (alt: aye-LOOR-uh-fie-uhl)
Notes: I keep running across this word and forgetting the meaning
Yesterday’s word
The word chiral refers to something that “cannot be superposed on its mirror image” (note the deliberate use of “superposed” instead of “superimposed”)
First usage
Our word came into English in the late 1800s
Background / Comments
The human hand is a prime example of something that is chiral; and our word comes from the Greek word cheir (hand). Anything that does not have an axis of symmetry is chiral.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 