chiral
/ˈkaɪɹəl/adjective
chiral is spelled C-H-I-R-A-L: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,187th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, chiral means “that exhibits chirality; as in the left-handed and right-handed versions of a helix, or a molecule with L- and D- stereoisomers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in chiral?
| Letters | 6: C-H-I-R-A-L |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 43,187th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is chiral?
Chiral appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,187th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce chiral?
- /ˈkaɪɹəl/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-chiral.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with chiral?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as chiral.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: archil.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
What does chiral mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
that exhibits chirality; as in the left-handed and right-handed versions of a helix, or a molecule with L- and D- stereoisomers.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Chiral in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense that exhibits chirality:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does chiral come from?
From Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír, “hand”) + English -al.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).