Diffraction

//dɪˈfɹækʃən// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The bending of a wave around an obstacle. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    when light passes sharp edges or goes through narrow slits the rays are deflected and produce fringes of light and dark bands wordnet
  3. 3
    The breaking up of an electromagnetic wave as it passes a geometric structure (e.g. a slit), followed by reconstruction of the wave by interference. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
amplitudeantinodeattenuationbroadcastbroadcastingcircumfusion

Example

More examples

"As the years progressed, Newton completed his work on universal gravitation, diffraction of light, centrifugal force, centripetal force, inverse-square law, bodies in motion and the variations in tides due to gravity."

Etymology

From New Latin diffrāctiō (in which coined by Francesco Maria Grimaldi), from Latin diffrāctus, past participle of Latin diffringo (“to shatter, to break into pieces”). Coined in Physico-mathesis de lumine (1665) by Francesco Maria Grimaldi.

Related phrases

X-ray diffractiondiffraction gratingdiffraction limitdiffraction patternneutron diffractiontransmission electron diffractionneutron diffraction

More for "diffraction"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.