Meanings
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1
verb
to make light, sound, or another wave change direction as it passes between media
Water refracts the light and makes the submerged pencil appear bent.
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2
verb
medicine: to measure an eye's refractive error in order to determine the needed lens power
The optometrist will refract each eye before prescribing new glasses.
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3
verb
figurative: to alter or distort something as it passes through a perspective or medium
The novel refracts the historical event through several unreliable narrators.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Latin refractus, the past participle of refringere ("to break up or bend back"), built from re- + frangere ("to break"). English specialized the verb for the apparent bending of light and later other waves as they cross between media.