To save this word, you'll need to log in.
Definition of optical activity
: ability of a chemical substance to rotate the plane of vibration of polarized light to the right or left
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on optical activity
What made you want to look up optical activity? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Intact Latin Quiz
- What did focus mean in Latin?
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
- Intact Latin Quiz
What did each of these words mean to ancient Romans?
Take the quiz - The Eponym Quiz
Do you know these words that come from names?
Take the quiz - Spell It
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
Take the quiz - Dictionary Devil
The dictionary has been scrambled—can you put it back together?
Play the game
Share optical activity
Time Traveler for optical activity
The first known use of optical activity was in 1877
See more words from the same year