Definition of refract Refract

re•fract

We found 8 definitions of refract from 5 different sources.

What does refract mean?

Verb refracts, refracting, refracted
refract - subject to refraction; "refract a light beam"
		subject make accountable for; "He did not want to subject himself to the judgments of his superiors"
		optics optical properties; "the optics of a telescope"
refract - determine the refracting power of (a lens)
		ascertain, find out, determine, find learn or discover with certainty

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refract (Verb)
To change direction as a result of entering a different medium.
refract (Verb)
To cause light to change direction as a result of entering a different medium.

refract (n.)
To bend sharply and abruptly back; to break off.
refract (n.)
To break the natural course of, as rays of light orr heat, when passing from one transparent medium to another of different density; to cause to deviate from a direct course by an action distinct from reflection; as, a dense medium refrcts the rays of light as they pass into it from a rare medium.

refract
rē-frakt′, v.t. to break back or open: to break the natural course, or bend from a direct line, as rays of light, &c.—adj. Rēfrac′table.—p.adjs. Rēfrac′ted, turned out of its straight course, as a ray of light: (bot., &c.) bent back at an acute angle; Rēfrac′ting, serving or tending to refract: refractive.—n. Rēfrac′tion, the act of refracting: the change in the direction of a ray of light, heat, &c., when it enters a different medium.—adj. Rēfrac′tive, refracting: pertaining to refraction.—ns. Rēfrac′tiveness; Rēfractiv′ity; Rēfractom′eter, an instrument for measuring the refractive power of different substances; Rēfrac′tor, a refracting telescope.—Angle of refraction, the angle between a perpendicular and a ray of light after its change of direction, bearing a constant ratio to the sine of the angle of incidence—the index of refraction; Astronomical, or Atmospheric, refraction, the apparent angular elevation of the heavenly bodies above their true places, caused by the refraction of the rays of light in their passage through the earth's atmosphere; Double refraction, the separation of an incident ray of light into two refracted rays, polarised in perpendicular planes. [L. refringĕre, refractum—re-, back, frangĕre, to break.]