refract
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to subject to refraction.
-
to determine the refractive condition of (an eye).
verb
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to cause to undergo refraction
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to measure the refractive capabilities of (the eye, a lens, etc)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of refract
1605–15; < Latin refrāctus, past participle of refringere to break, force back, equivalent to re- re- + frac- (variant stem of frangere to break ) + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
Things that refract light — like lenses and prisms — bend it. If you've looked through a water droplet on a car windshield, you've seen water refract light. You're most likely to come across the verb refract when you're studying physics and the properties of light waves. We come across examples of this everyday, though — when you study a straw in a glass of water, you see the water refract light in a way that makes the straw look bent or jagged. A rainbow also happens when raindrops refract light, breaking it into its component colors. In Latin, refract means "broken up."
Vocabulary lists containing refract
Give Me a Break!: Fract and Frag
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Unwind
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Breadcrumbs
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Our legal institutions and the broader culture refract their policy values back at each other.
From Slate • May 26, 2026
Apparently, a lot of folks feel seeing people in the real world is too taxing, and it's easier to refract your urge for connection to an app that offers only an inch-deep simulacrum.
From Salon • Jan. 19, 2025
Unlike the shallow foveae found in human eyes, bird eyes have deep central foveae, which refract the incoming light to a large extent.
From Science Daily • May 30, 2024
“We mourn her loss but it’s a comfort to know that her penetrating works will dazzle, shine and refract in the minds of readers for generations to come,” Farmer said.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 17, 2023
But it could not show the mechanism which causes light to reflect or refract, or the particles that cause smells.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
