Sterically

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a manner relating to the spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule that affects its chemical behavior and reactions
2. Describing actions or effects influenced by the three-dimensional positioning of parts in a compound, particularly impacting how molecules interact or bind
3. Referring to the physical hindrance caused by atoms within a molecule that alters its structure or prevents certain chemical processes from occurring easily

Etymology: "Sterically" is built from "steric," which is itself a modern scientific coinage, and the whole word can be unpacked into two pieces. The root of "steric" goes back to the Greek word for solid or three-dimensional form, which underlies the idea of atoms occupying space. Chemists needed a term for how the bulk of atoms in a molecule can get in each other's way, and "steric" was formed to name that spatial crowding. The adverbial ending is the more familiar part. It comes from the Germanic suffix "-lic," which in Old English became "-līce" and later "-ly," the same ending that turns adjectives like "quick" into adverbs like "quickly." Attaching it to "steric" produces an adverb describing something done or happening in terms of spatial hindrance, as in a reaction that is sterically blocked.

Synonyms: spatially, geometrically, structurally, three-dimensionally

Antonyms: non-spatially, non-geometrically