refractor

[ ri-frak-ter ]

/ rɪˈfræk tər /

noun

a person or thing that refracts.

refracting telescope.

Nearby words

Origin of refractor

First recorded in 1630–40; refract + -or²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for refractor

Here the spectroscope is now placed, but not, as it happens, on the Thompson refractor.
The Royal Observatory Greenwich|E. Walter (Edwared Walter) Maunder
The refractor achieves this by means of a carefully shaped lens, called the object glass, or objective.
Pleasures of the telescope|Garrett Serviss
Thus the refractor and the reflector differ chiefly in their manner of gathering light.
The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4)|J. Arthur Thomson
With the reflector and the refractor it had been found that the field of good images was strictly limited.
Astronomical Discovery|Herbert Hall Turner

In what follows I have only a refractor in mind, although the same principles would apply to a reflector.
Pleasures of the telescope|Garrett Serviss

British Dictionary definitions for refractor

refractor

/ (rɪˈfræktə) /

noun

an object or material that refracts

another name for refracting telescope

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for refractor

refractor

1769, as a type of telescope, agent noun from refract.