Definition of: refraction

(ri·frak′·shən) noun Physics
The change of direction of a ray, as of light or heat, in oblique passage from one medium to another of different density, or in traversing a medium whose density is not uniform.
—double refraction The property possessed by certain types of crystals of breaking up a beam of light into two differently refracted and polarized rays.
—re·frac′tive adjective
—re·frac′tive·ness, re·frac·tiv·i·ty (rē′frak·tiv′ə·tē) noun
—re·frac′tor noun
LIGHT REFRACTION