Refraction

//ɹəˈfɹækʃən// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The turning or bending of any wave, such as a light or sound wave, when it passes from one medium into another of different optical density. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    the amount by which a propagating wave is bent wordnet
  3. 3
    The degree to which a metal or compound can withstand heat countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    the change in direction of a propagating wave (light or sound) when passing from one medium to another wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
deflectionatmospheric attenuationblind spotblind spotsclutterdeflection

Example

More examples

"According to the data in this problem, can we affirm that reflection or refraction is going to occur?"

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin refrāctiō.

Related phrases

angle of refractionastronomic refractionastronomical refractionatmospheric refractiondouble refraction

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