racemic

[ rey-see-mik, -sem-ik, ruh- ]

/ reɪˈsi mɪk, -ˈsɛm ɪk, rə- /

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adjective Chemistry.

noting or pertaining to any of various organic compounds in which racemism occurs.

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Origin of racemic

1830–40; <French racémique<Latin racēm(us) raceme + French -ique-ic

Words nearby racemic

racegoer, racehorse, racemate, raceme, race meeting, racemic, racemic acid, racemiform, racemism, racemization, racemize

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use racemic in a sentence

He discovered that racemic acid crystals could be sorted into two asymmetric mirror-image shapes, like pairs of right-handed and left-handed gloves.
Louis Pasteur’s devotion to truth transformed what we know about health and disease|Tom Siegfried|November 18, 2022|Science News
Racemic acid is rather less soluble than tartaric, and separates first from a solution containing the two acids.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II|Arnold Cooley
A solution of racemic acid precipitates a neutral salt of calcium, which is not the case with tartaric acid.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II|Arnold Cooley
Examination of liquors from which racemic acid has been deposited has always shown them to contain much inactive tartaric acid.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II|Arnold Cooley

This theory does not exclude the probability that certain vines under particular conditions produce racemic acid.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II|Arnold Cooley
In the one case, therefore, the racemic compound has a higher, in the other a lower melting point than the active forms.
The Phase Rule and Its Applications|Alexander Findlay

British Dictionary definitions for racemic

racemic

/ (rəˈsiːmɪk, -ˈsɛm-) /

adjective

chem of, concerned with, or being a mixture of equal amounts of enantiomers and consequently having no optical activity

Derived forms of racemic

racemism (ˈræsɪˌmɪzəm, rəˈsiːmɪzəm), noun

Word Origin for racemic

C19: from raceme (as in racemic acid) + -ic

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for racemic

racemic

[ rə-sē′mĭk ]

Relating to a chemical compound that contains equal quantities of the dextrorotatory and levorotatory forms of the compound and therefore does not rotate the plane of incident polarized light.

Relating to or consisting of racemes.