levorotatory

adj

"levorotatory" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“levorotatory” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (of an optically active compound or crystal) That rotates the plane of polarized light to the left, or counter-clockwise. Notation: (−) or formerly lowercase l-.

Corpus desk

Index EN-levorotatory · levorotatory · English

levorotatory · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for levorotatory
PropertyValue
Headwordlevorotatory
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “levorotatory” in English

levorotatoryranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

levorotatory is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "(of an optically active compound or crystal) That rotates the plane of polarized light to the left, or counter-clockwise. Notation: (−) or formerly lowercase l-.".

Zero misspellings are on record for levorotatory in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From levo- + rotatory. The correct English form is levorotatory, spelled L-E-V-O-R-O-T-A-T-O-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    (of an optically active compound or crystal) That rotates the plane of polarized light to the left, or counter-clockwise. Notation: (−) or formerly lowercase l-.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how levorotatory appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Levofloxacin is the levorotatory enantiomer of the medication ofloxacin.

Etymology

From levo- + rotatory.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "levorotatory"?
"levorotatory" is spelled L-E-V-O-R-O-T-A-T-O-R-Y.
What does "levorotatory" mean?
As an adjective, "levorotatory" means: (of an optically active compound or crystal) That rotates the plane of polarized light to the left, or counter-clockwise. Notation: (−) or formerly lowercase l-.
What is the origin of the word "levorotatory"?
From levo- + rotatory. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list