refract

verb

re·​fract ri-ˈfrakt 

refracted; refracting; refracts

transitive verb

1

a

: to subject (something, such as a ray of light) to refraction

Between them, Kirchhoff and Bunsen developed the spectroscope, which uses a prism to refract light.

—Paul Strathern

b

: to alter or distort as if by refraction

"Nope" is his twist on the alien-invasion film as refracted through the prism of [filmmaker] David Lynch.

—Cary Darling

Too often Indian food, and later Chinese—then the two most favored and accepted of foreign cuisines—became refracted through the prism of British food.

—Nigella Lawson

2

: to determine the refracting power of

refract a lens

intransitive verb

: to be subjected to refraction

The head of the figure is often surrounded by rings of coloured light caused by light diffraction. Like with a rainbow, this is caused by light refracting through tiny droplets of water in the air.

—Olivia Jones

Examples of refract in a Sentence

Light is refracted when it hits water.

Recent Examples on the Web

These images show the spacecraft taking on a deep red hue as the sunlight is refracted through the Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in a shadow cast on the lunar surface. —Taylor Nicioli, CNN, 14 Mar. 2025

Earth’s atmosphere filters out shorter wavelengths like blue and violet, refracting the longer red and orange wavelengths toward the moon. —Jamie Carter, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025

The only light that then shines on the moon is sunlight that is refracted through Earth’s atmosphere. —Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 4 Mar. 2025

That's similar to what's happening on the moon during a total lunar eclipse when sunlight is once again refracted towards the surface of the fully eclipsed Moon. —Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin refractus, past participle of refringere to break open, break up, from re- + frangere to break — more at break

First Known Use

1563, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for refract

• abstract
• attacked
• attract
• contact
• contract
• detract
• distract
• enact
• exact
• extract
• hijacked
• impact

Kids Definition

refract

verb

re·​fract ri-ˈfrakt 

: to cause to go through refraction

Medical Definition

refract

transitive verb

re·​fract ri-ˈfrakt 

1

: to subject (as a ray of light) to refraction

2

: to determine the refracting power of or abnormality of refraction in (as an eye or a lens)