refractive

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   relating to refraction or to the bending of light, sound, or another wave

   The lens changes the direction of light through its refractive properties.

2. 2
   adj

   capable of causing a wave to change direction as it enters a different medium

   Diamond is highly refractive and produces brilliant flashes of color.

Formed from refract + -ive. Refract comes from Latin refractus, the past participle of refringere, "to break up or bend back," from re- + frangere, "to break." In optics and wave physics, refractive describes a medium or property that bends a wave at a boundary.

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