The quality of being twisted or spiral-shaped, or in physics, a property that describes how something rotates as it moves forward.
From Latin helix (spiral) + -ity (quality of). The word entered English in the 20th century as scientists needed precise terminology for rotational properties in particle physics and biomolecules.
Your DNA has helicity—both strands twist around each other in a right-handed helix, which is why life on Earth is asymmetrical. Interestingly, some amino acids prefer left-handed spirals, and this 'handedness' of molecules is so important that discovering why life chose right-handed DNA remains one of chemistry's deepest mysteries.
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