refractionn.
/rᵻˈfrakʃn/, U.S. /rəˈfrækʃ(ə)n/, /riˈfrækʃ(ə)n/ΚΠ
1555 R. Sherry Treat. Figures Gram. & Rhetorike f. xxx Refraction serueth to the like, when all one worde is repeted in a contrarye sense, as I know all this life to bee but bitternes, but I pray you geue me such bitternes.
2. Physics.
a. The phenomenon whereby a ray of light (or other electromagnetic radiation) is diverted or deflected from its previous course in passing from one medium into another, or in traversing a medium of varying density. More widely: change in the direction of propagation of any wave as a result of its travelling at different speeds at different points on the wave front. angle of refraction, axis of refraction, index of refraction, plane of refraction, etc.; conical refraction, double refraction, seismic refraction, etc.: see the first element.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > refraction > [noun]
fraction?a1560
refraction1563
infraction1635
diaclasis1883
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > refraction > [noun] > refracted light > plane or angle of
refracted angle1656
plane of refraction1706
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > types of motion > [noun] > wave > specific actions of waves
interference1830
refraction1874
resonance1886
1563 W. Fulke Meteors ii. f. 16v An Aparition, is an Exhalation..not verely burning, but by refraction of lyght, either of the sunne or the Moone, seemeth as though it burned.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1295 The rainbow is..distinguished by sundry colours, by the refraction [Fr. refraction] of our eie-sight against a cloud.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 347 The colours are made by refraction of light, and the shadows that limit that light. View more context for this quotation
1671 I. Newton in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 6 3082 If by refraction..the difform rays, latent in such a mixture, be separated, there shall emerge colours different from the colour of the composition.
1706 W. Jones Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos 301 The Refraction out of a Rarer Medium into a Denser is made towards the Perpendicular.
1797 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 279/2 The phenomena of refraction are explained by an attractive power in the medium through which light passes.
c1860 M. Faraday Electric Light in Var. Forces Nature 177 I can employ the principle of refraction to bend and direct the rays of light.
1874 Proc. Royal Soc. 1873–4 22 532 This refraction explains the well-known difference which exists in the distinctness of sounds by day and by night.
1897 H. G. Wells Invisible Man xix. 146 The powdering multiplies the surfaces of the glass at which refraction and reflection occur.
1914 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1913 607 (title) Atmospheric refraction and absorption as affecting transmission in wireless telegraphy.
1944 A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. xiv. 297 (caption) Diagram to illustrate the development of a hooked spit by the refraction of oblique waves.
1974 P. K. Harvey & K. J. Bohlman Stereo F.M. Radio Handbk. vii. 144 Refraction of the radio wave occurs due to the effects of the varying density of the gas layers in which the wave is travelling.
2002 P. Herring Biol. Deep Ocean viii. 182 Euphausiids and mysides still have eyes in which the light is focused by refraction in the crystalline cones.
b. As a count noun: an instance of this phenomenon.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > refraction > [noun] > instance of
refraction1563
1563 W. Fulke Meteors iii. f. 45 Howe by diuerse refractions and reflections of beames, such visions are caused.
1660 R. Boyle New Exper. Physico-mechanicall xviii. 136 The various refractions that may happen in the Air.
1743 W. Emerson Doctr. Fluxions 284 The Sum of all the Refractions will be equal to the single Refraction [etc.].
1858 J. Hogg Microscope (ed. 3) i. i. 2 A table of the refractions which light experiences under different angles of incidence, in passing from air into glass.
1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Alpenglow,..a reillumination sometimes observed after the summits have passed into shadow and supposed to be due to a refraction of the light rays from the west resulting from the cooling of the air.
1993 Times Educ. Suppl. 5 Mar. (Review Suppl.) 18/1 Ray tracing is a method of producing a picture which takes light sources and surfaces into account and calculates exact reflections, refractions and shadows.
c. In plural. Refracted beams. rare.In quot. a1657 figurative.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > refraction > [noun] > refracted light
refractiona1657
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Henry IV ccclxxxvii, in Poems (1878) IV. 97 Now..the Refractions of his Spirit Gild Only the Hemme of Life.
1659 R. Boyle Some Motives & Incentives to Love of God 163 Variety..such as we may see in the diversifi'd Refractions of the same sparkling Diamond.
1873 Appleton's Jrnl. 23 Aug. 236/3 I have never anywhere seen the light break into such varied refractions, or present such rapid changes of color.
2004 Independent 10 Mar. (Property section) 5/2 Three prisms shielding the bulb can be twisted to project a wash of coloured light refractions over a wall.
d. The action of a medium in refracting light; refractive power or effect.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > refraction > [noun] > refractive power
refraction1664
refractive power1665
power1738
refrangibility1774
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 34 Which is helped and advantaged also by the refraction of the water wherein they swim.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) III. 27 Allowing one degree for the refraction of the Atmosphere in winter.
1849 C. Kingsley N. Devon: Pt. I in Misc. (1860) II. 246 A deep pool..paved with sandstone slabs and boulders, distorted by the changing refractions of the eddies.
1890 Cent. Dict. Orthoscope, an instrument for holding water around the eye, so that the refraction of the cornea is eliminated and the iris can be examined.
1962 T. G. Hiebert Abbrev. Basic Med. Physiol. (ed. 4) i. iv. 32 The principle of retinoscopy is that light directed into the eye will be reflected back in a direction dependent upon the refraction of the eye lenses.
1991 D. Morris Animal Watching (BNC) 96 A lightning stab is made, in which the bird has to allow for the refraction of the water surface.
a. The action of breaking open or breaking up. Obsolete. rare.
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the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > [noun] > breaking into pieces or shattering
shiveringc1400
truncheoning1477
upbreaking1493
confraction?1541
refraction1578
splinting1598
diffraction1654
hatchet work1697
shattering1748
exploding1791
smash1808
explosion1811
splintering1815
blasting1824
shatterment1841
scatteration1880
smashing1886
1578 J. Banister Hist. Man vii. f. 91 This bloud by styrring..is made thinne, and together with the ayre mixed, which thus, by the same refraction, and beatyng together, is prepared.
1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Refrattione, a bursting or refraction.
1661 T. Blount Glossographia (ed. 2) Refraction, a breaking open.
b. Rebounding, recoiling; an instance of this. Obsolete. rare.
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the world > movement > impact > rebound > [noun]
reboundinga1382
reverberationc1405
rebound1440
stot1513
repercussion1553
recoil1583
resilience1626
reflection1642
refraction1653
resilition1654
backstroke1674
retro-spring1716
ricochet1740
dap1835
bounce1884
spring-back1899
1653 W. Harvey Two Anat. Exercitations Circulation of Blood ii. 36 in Anat. Exercises The blood being forc'd against the hand, did by its reverberation and refraction, flye back four or five foot.
1661 T. Blount Glossographia (ed. 2) Refraction,..a rebound.
4.
a. Astronomy. The effect of the atmosphere whereby light from a celestial object far from the zenith is deflected so as to increase the apparent altitude of the object; a deflection of this kind. Also astronomical refraction. Cf. atmospheric refraction n. at atmospheric adj. Additions.
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the world > the universe > heavenly body > position of heavenly body > [noun] > other
declinationc1400
meridian altitudec1400
angle of position?a1560
zenith distance1588
refraction1603
azimuth1626
amplitude1627
horizontal parallax1665
complement1703
aberration1737
hour-angle1837
intercept1901
1603 C. Heydon Def. Iudiciall Astrol. 137 There lieth a deceipt or fallacie in the refraction of beams, which cheifly happeneth about the Horizon, where the aire is alwaies thickest.
1667 Philos. Trans. 1665–6 (Royal Soc.) 1 395 This Author shews, that there is a great difference between Optical and Astronomical Refraction.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. ii. 118 The Refraction of the Sun, Moon and Stars, causeth them to appear higher above the Horizon than they are.
1715 tr. D. Gregory Elements Astron. I. ii. §16. 279 The uncertain Refractions will render the operation doubtful; and besides, then the Sun ascends and descends too obliquely [etc.].
1755 W. Emerson Navigation 7 But note, the refraction makes the sun or a star appear higher than he is, when near the horizon.
1823 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 113 409 The problem of the refractions must still be considered as the most imperfect part of modern astronomy.
1868 W. Lockyer & J. N. Lockyer tr. A. Guillemin Heavens (ed. 3) 186 The Sun, actually already below the horizon, is raised up by refraction, and remains visible to us.
1934 H. S. Jones Gen. Astron. (ed. 2) ii. 26 Corrections for refraction must be applied to all astronomical observations in order to reduce apparent zenith distance to true zenith distance.
1950 ‘C. S. Forester’ Mr. Midshipman Hornblower i. 19 Everybody else had added the correction for refraction instead of subtracting it.
1983 C. A. Murray Vectorial Astron. vii. 177 The refraction tables published by Pulkovo Observatory are used frequently for the precise calculation of refraction.
b. The effect of the atmosphere in making terrestrial objects appear higher than they are, or otherwise distorted; a deflection or distortion of this kind. Also terrestrial refraction.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > optical illusion > [noun] > an optical illusion > optical distortions
refraction1698
suppression1702
aerial perspective1704
irradiation1834
double image1880
barrel distortion1889
pincushion distortion1892
Poggendorff illusion1898
Ponzo illusion1942
pincushioning1947
space myopia1962
pincushion1968
Müller-Lyer1972
1698 J. Keill Some Remarkes Whiston's Theory Earth in Exam. Burnet's Theory Earth 219 He seemes to allow too much, both for refraction and errors in the Observations.
1790 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 80 246 Table containing the results of the observations for the effect of terrestrial refraction.
1818 H. M. Williams tr. A. von Humboldt Personal Narr. Trav. III. 205 I noticed pretty regularly the setting and rising of the sun, in order to observe the effect of the mirage, or of the terrestrial refractions.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. ix. 69 My sketches of the coast..show what strange diversities of outline may be induced by refraction.
1955 Geogr. Jrnl. 121 21 It was in the mid-nineteenth century that Himalayan snow peaks first came under serious observation for height determination; and when first the problem of terrestrial refraction was encountered on an unprecedented scale.
1959 J. Prebble Buffalo Soldiers 219 The refraction of light through the haze made distances deceptive, and directions distorted.
2005 A. Forte et al. Viking Empires xii. 347 In the unpolluted Arctic sky,..refraction would project a vertical image of land which was actually below the visible horizon.
5. figurative. The mediation, alteration, or distortion of something, usually something pure or absolute, arising from the medium of expression, personal perspective, social context, etc.; an instance of this.
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the world > time > change > [noun]
wendingeOE
changing?c1225
stirringa1240
wrixlinga1240
changec1325
variancec1340
transmutationc1380
varyingc1380
whileness1382
translationc1384
alterationa1398
mutationa1398
removinga1425
revolutiona1425
shiftingc1440
changementc1450
muance1480
commutation1509
altry1527
transition1545
turning1548
novation1549
immutation?c1550
alterance1559
alienation1562
turn?1567
vicissitude1603
refraction1614
fermentationa1661
diabasis1672
parallax1677
motion1678
aliation1775
transience1946
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > misinterpretation > distortion or perversion of meaning > [noun]
wrestingc1444
pervertinga1450
corruptiona1513
straining1528
writhing?1532
hacking1539
violence1546
racking1556
wrying1562
wringing1565
detorting1579
wrest1581
detortion1598
wrench1603
torture1605
distorting1610
violencing1612
refraction1614
misacception1629
distortion1650
distorture1709
misacceptation1721
torturing1753
verbicide1826
stretch1849
twisting1890
queeringness1955
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [noun] > intermediate agency
mediationc1425
interventure1578
intermise1612
refraction1614
intercedence1640
intervent1657
intervention1665
intermediacy1713
intermedium1805
intermediary1859
mediumship1871
1614 J. Selden Titles of Honor Pref. C 4 I..euer..vsd that Medium only, which would not at all, or least, deceiue by Refraction.
1713 S. Parker tr. St. Athanasius Four Orations against Arians II. iii. 121 'Twas this Reception or Admission, that rais'd it far above itself, that tinctur'd it, as it were, with some fair Refractions of the Infinite Wisdom.
1838 J. C. Hare & A. W. Hare Guesses at Truth (ed. 2) 1st Ser. 2 When, among the manifold refractions of Knowledge, Wisdom is almost lost sight of.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xc. 135 Such refraction of events As often rises ere they rise. View more context for this quotation
1870 J. R. Lowell Among my Bks. (1873) 1st Ser. 279 The willful refraction of a clear mind, twisting awry whatever enters it.
1873 H. Spencer Study Sociol. i. 12 To make allowance for the refraction due to the historic medium.
1939 H. Miller Tropic of Capricorn 335 Pity, despair, passion, hope, courage—these were the temporal refractions caused by looking at equations from varying angles.
1989 G. Steiner Real Presences i. iv. 13 Joyce..reads Homer..through the rival refractions not only of Virgil or of Dante, but through the sheer critical intelligence of his own inventions of echo.
2000 J. Caughie Television Drama iv. 94 When it [sc. naturalism] deals with people's personal relationships with God, or with nature, or with themselves it does so by refraction through some dialogue style.
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society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > discount > [noun]
God's penny1340
rebate1478
rebatement1543
allowance1663
allowing1677
drawback1680
subtrahend1685
refraction1728
reduction1820
price cut1894
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) I'll Deduct or make you Refraction of 30s. charged inadvertently in my Bill.
1782 Gentleman's Mag. 52 364 Mr. K. mentioned the refraction which the Company had on their side of their bargains with Government, as very advantageous.
7. Chemistry. The total amount of impurities in a sample of nitre (saltpetre), estimated by measuring the angle of refraction of light passing through it. Now disused.
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the world > matter > chemistry > chemical assay or analytical chemistry > [noun] > acetimetry > other analytical techniques
alkalimetry1817
refraction1831
Hofmann method1876
cryoscopy1885
Reichert–Meissl1887
oxidimetry1896
Hofmann exhaustive methylation1938
workup1942
radioactivation analysisa1947
neutron activation analysis1947
activation analysis1948
1831 Times 27 Aug. 4/5 Saltpetre from Calcutta,..refraction 25 per cent.
1876 G. E. Voyle & G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) 335/1 Government..generally purchases saltpetre at 5 per cent. refraction.
1920 Times 28 Jan. 21/2 Saltpetre... 10 per cent. refraction, 48s. per cwt.
8. Ophthalmology. The act or process of measuring the refractive errors of eyes and determining the appropriate lenses to correct them. Frequently attributive.
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the world > health and disease > healing > ophthalmology or optometry > [noun] > instrumental examination or measurement of eye
ophthalmoscopy1864
retinoscopy1880
skiascopy1885
refraction1889
strabismometry1889
perimetry1890
strabometry1900
campimetry1901
scotometry1912
gonioscopy1923
1889 F. Valk Lect. Errors Refraction xi. 207 Of over 1,000 eyes, examined by myself..at the refraction room of the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, during 1884 to 1886, there were..683 cases of hypermetropia.
1900 J. Thorington Refraction ix. 229 The great danger in any refraction..is an overcorrection.
1928 S. Duke-Elder Pract. Refraction xxi. 302 Test..the depth of cycloplegia by testing the accommodation before the refraction is done.
1953 N. Bier Contact Lens Routine & Pract. iv. 56 The practitioner's contact lens refraction set.
1961 Lancet 30 Sept. 760/2 An ophthalmologist holds refraction clinics weekly in the surgery.
1975 M. Ruben Contact Lens Pract. iv. 67/2 The cylinder found by refraction is −3·00 D.
2004 NeuroImage 22 987/2 Subjective refraction was carried out on each subject.
Compounds
refraction circle n. Astronomy †(a) the setting circle of a refracting telescope (obsolete); (b) = transit circle n. at transit n. Compounds 2 (now historical and rare).
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instrument for distant vision > [noun] > telescope > refracting telescopes > parts of
refraction circle1788
1788 G. S. Howard New Royal Cycl. II. 835/1 The refraction circle is set to the same minute, &c. which the index points to on the limb of the quadrant.
1809 W. Nicholson Brit. Encycl. V. at Observatory A very small circle, called the refraction circle H, moveable by a finger screw at the extremity of the eye-end of the telescope.
1846 Sci. Amer. 26 June 317/2 The great Refraction Circle, ordered for the National Observatory, has arrived.
2003 S. J. Dick Sky & Ocean Joined vi. 211 (caption) The remaining portion..housed the 6.6-inch Ertel transit circle known as the ‘Refraction Circle’.
refraction error n. an error caused by refraction; (Ophthalmology) a refractive error of the eye.
ΚΠ
1854 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 24 350 In this way your observations will be in pairs, and the mean of each pair will be independent of all instrumental and refraction errors.
1879 St. George's Hosp. Rep. 9 489 The pulsation was more marked in the eye with inferior sight. There was absolutely no refraction error.
1926 H. N. Russell et al. Astron. I. iii. 80 Stars..may be selected in such a way that some will be as far north of the zenith as others are south, and this will practically eliminate even the slight refraction errors that remain.
1992 Milbank Q. 70 320 Neither study explicitly defined visual disorders and disabilities; their estimates included chronic health considerations and acute illness episodes as well as refraction errors.
refraction index n. [compare earlier index of refraction at index n. 10a, and French rapport de réfraction, in same sense (1756))] Physics = refractive index n. at refractive adj. Compounds.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > refraction > [noun] > index of refraction
refractive index1820
index of refraction1829
refraction index1850
1850 J. D. Dana Syst. Mineral. (ed. 3) 559 Refraction index nearly that of water.
1889 Internat. Ann. Anthonys Photogr. Bull. 167 The relation between the refraction-index and the dispersion.
1930 G. P. Thomson Wave Mech. Free Electrons ii. 36 On de Broglie's theory the space round a nucleus has a refraction index for electron waves which varies with the distance from the nucleus.
2004 S. Mackay et al. Pract. Industr. Data Networks vi. 79 Cable with an abrupt change in refraction index is called step-index cable.
refraction profiling n. Geology profiling of underground features by means of refraction shooting (cf. profiling n. 4).
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society > occupation and work > industry > drilling for oil or gas > [noun] > prospecting for oil or gas
reflection shooting1929
refraction profiling1929
refraction shooting1929
seismics1934
reflection profiling1938
doodlebugging1939
Vibroseis1961
1929 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining & Metall. Engineers 81 598 Mapping structures..by means of refraction profiling.
1963 J. B. Hersey in M. N. Hill Sea III. iv. 65 Continuous refraction profiling should prove especially valuable in the study of unconsolidated sediments in deep water.
2000 F. Pirajno Ore Deposits & Mantle Plumes iv. 227 Seismic techniques, including reflection and refraction profiling,..are all essentially based on seismic velocity anomalies.
refraction shooting n. Geology seismic prospecting based on the travel time of shock waves generated at the earth's surface and moving nearly parallel to the bedding on a long base line, providing information on underground geological structure on a larger scale; cf. reflection shooting n. at reflection n. Compounds 2.
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society > occupation and work > industry > drilling for oil or gas > [noun] > prospecting for oil or gas
reflection shooting1929
refraction profiling1929
refraction shooting1929
seismics1934
reflection profiling1938
doodlebugging1939
Vibroseis1961
1929 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining & Metall. Engineers 81 606 The distances are short in reflection shooting compared with those in refraction shooting.
1960 C. Gatlin Petroleum Engin. iii. 37/1 Refraction shooting is used primarily as a reconnaissance tool to select areas and obtain interpretative data for the more detailed reflection method.
2002 L. Thomas Coal Geol. viii. 197/1 The energy input to the ground must be stronger for refraction shooting; consequently explosives continue to be the dominant energy source.
Derivatives
reˈfractional adj. of or relating to refraction.
ΚΠ
1813 Woburn-abbey Georgics III. xiv. 20 Of this fine staple, soon shall tell Micrometer refractional.
1824 Gentleman's Mag. May 417/1 The apparent Southern motion evidently originated in overlooking the refractional correction necessary for Greenwich.
1871 R. H. Hutton Ess. II. 84 He rejected ‘refractional’ theories of light with scorn.
1977 Jrnl. Geophysics 42 329 (title) Crustal structure of the central Aegean Sea..obtained by refractional seismic experiments.
2000 M. P. J. Vervloed in C. Stuen et al. Vision Rehabilit. 162/2 Five children with 0.63 vision were probably not adequately corrected for refractional errors.
reˈfractionist n. Ophthalmology a person trained to carry out refractions (sense 8).
ΚΠ
1896 Manitoba Free Press 29 Apr. 2/6 (advt.) An expert optician and refractionist.
1945 Amer. Jrnl. Ophthalmol. 28 669/1 It is evident that the better educated the optometrist the more capable will he be of performing well his functions as a refractionist.
2004 M. Eddleston et al. Oxf. Handbk. Trop. Med. (ed. 2) x. 472 For people living in isolated communities the ‘refractionist’ and spectacles are often not available or affordable.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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