diffract

English

Etymology

From Latin diffractus (“past participle of diffringo (“to shatter, to break into pieces”)”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈfɹækt/
  • (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /dəˈfɹækt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

diffract (third-person singular simple present diffracts, present participle diffracting, simple past and past participle diffracted)

1. (transitive) To cause diffraction
   • 1963, Lester del Rey, The Sky Is Falling:

     Dave frowned as he tried to answer. "Well, I suppose the atmosphere is oxygen and nitrogen, mostly; then there's the ionosphere and the ozone layer. As I remember, the color of the sky is due to the scattering of light—light rays being diffracted in the air."

2. (intransitive) To undergo diffraction

Derived terms

• diffractable
• diffractometer
• diffractometry
• diffractor
• nondiffracting
• undiffracted

Translations

transitive

• Bulgarian: разлагам (bg) (razlagam), пречупвам (bg) (prečupvam)
• Catalan: difractar (ca)
• Czech: lomit
• Finnish: diffraktoida, taivuttaa (fi)
• French: diffracter (fr)
• Italian: diffrangere (it)
• Māori: whakarauraha, whakaroraha
• Norwegian: bøye (no)
• Spanish: difractar (es)
• Welsh: diffreithio

intransitive

• Bulgarian: разлагам се (razlagam se), пречупвам се (prečupvam se)
• Czech: lomit se
• Finnish: diffraktoitua, taipua (fi)
• Italian: diffrangersi
• Māori: rauraha, roraha
• Norwegian: bøye (no)
• Welsh: diffreithio