Dextrorotations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of rotating something to the right or clockwise, often used in the context of chemistry to describe optical activity
2. A specific type of molecular rotation where light is rotated in a rightward direction, frequently observed in chiral compounds
3. Describing the behavior of certain substances that cause polarized light to shift to the right when passed through them

Etymology: "Dextrorotations" is the plural of "dextrorotation," so it names repeated or instances of turning to the right. The singular combines "dextro-," a combining form from Latin "dexter," meaning "right" (as opposed to left), with "rotation," from Latin "rotatio," the act of turning around, itself from "rotare," to rotate, related to "rota," wheel. The two parts together produce a term that means, literally, a turning toward the right. The word's chief use is in chemistry and physics, where it describes how a substance bends plane-polarised light. A "dextrorotatory" compound turns the plane of polarised light clockwise, as seen by an observer looking toward the light source, and the opposite-turning compound is called "levorotatory." The prefix "dextro-" carries the directional sense, so the term is precise about which way the light is turned.