We explore gyrotropic effects in the $\mathrm{BaTi}{\mathrm{S}}_3$ system, a quasi-one-dimensional crystal that exhibits giant optical anisotropy [S. Niu et al., Nat. Photon. 12, 392 (2018); B. Zhao et al., Chem. Mater. 34, 5680 (2022)]. In the $P{6}_{3}cm$ phase which is stable under room temperature, we predict two distinct strain-induced phase transitions: (i) a symmetry-lowering transition from the $P{6}_{3}cm$ to chiral $P{6}_3$ phase under tensile strain ($>3.0\%$), which enhances natural optical activity (NOA) and enables electric-field-switchable optical rotation; and an isostructural insulator-to-polar semimetal transition under compressive strain ($\le -3\%$), which activates the nonlinear anomalous Hall effect and exhibits a strain-induced sign reversal. The low-temperature $P{2}_1$ phase also transforms into a $P{2}_1{2}_1{2}_1$ phase under enough compressive strains with such phase transition exhibiting a large NOA. All these results highlight $\mathrm{BaTi}{\mathrm{S}}_3$ as a viable candidate for ferroelectrics, chiral and optical devices with strain enhanced or activated gyrotropic properties.

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• Epitaxial strain
• Ferroelectric phase transition
• Hall effect
• Optical activity
• Ferroelectrics
• Single crystal materials
• Weyl semimetal
• First-principles calculations
• Maxwell's equations