refractedadj.
/rᵻˈfraktᵻd/, U.S. /rəˈfræktəd/, /riˈfræktəd/ 1.
a. Of light (or other electromagnetic radiation, sound waves, etc.): deflected or caused to deviate, esp. when passing obliquely from one medium to another of different density; subjected to refraction. Of a colour: produced by refraction. Also in extended use and in figurative context.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > refraction > [adjective] > refracted
refracted1615
1615 T. Worthington Whyte dyed Black 179 Your selnes [read selues] know, that in a true vew of any thing, refracted beames neuer afford a perfecte sight.
a1628 N. Carpenter Geogr. Delineated (1635) ii. vii. 108 For the Aire neere the Sea being alwayes intermixed with thicke watrish vapours rising vp, the Sea must of necessity be presented in a thicker Medium by a refracted sight.
a1657 G. Daniel Ecloges in Poems (1878) II. 177 Homeward wend, Whilst the refracted West some Lights yet lend.
1691 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. 244 We look upon Truth..by a Refracted Ray, which makes it to appear where it is not.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Diacousticks A Science that explains the Properties of refracted Sound.
1740 W. Somervile Hobbinol iii. 292 She darts along, and with refracted Rays Paints the gay Clouds.
1789 E. Darwin Bot. Garden: Pt. II ii. 133 O'er heavens wide arch refracted lustres flow.
1800 J. Robison Let. 9 Sept. in E. Robinson & D. McKie Partners in Sci. (1970) 352 I am delighted with Herschels discovery of refracted heat.
1831 D. Brewster Treat. Optics iii. 22 The ray HR is called the incident ray, and R b the refracted ray.
1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust II. i. i. 8 Life is not light, but the refracted colour.
1898 E. S. Dana Text-bk. Mineral. (new ed.) ii. 172 The wide separation of the two refracted rays by calcite.
1931 H. S. Williams Bk. Marvels 53 Only a relatively small circle directly above the fish brings refracted light.
1959 M. Renault Charioteer (new ed.) ii. 12 He had moved..once already to get the sun out of his eyes. Even its refracted heat was making him drowsy.
1991 Renaissance Stud. 5 438 Roger Bacon..associated grace in the case of good men with refracted light and in the case of sinners with reflected light.
1999 R. Deakin Waterlog (2000) i. 2 Long before the lifeguards arrived, we would..set the straight, black, refracted lines on the bottom of the green pool snaking and shimmying.
b. figurative. Mediated; altered; distorted.
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the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > misinterpretation > distortion or perversion of meaning > [adjective]
corruptc1386
racked1546
detorted?1550
wrested1551
writhen1551
writhed1562
forced1583
tortured1603
strained1609
distorted1641
violented1641
crook1647
extorted1652
refracted1655
madly wrested1656
wry1663
corrupted1699
non-natural1844
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [adjective] > acting as intermediate agent > involving intermediate agency
mediatec1449
refracted1655
1655 H. L'Estrange Reign King Charles 146 The information being somewhat lame, as being taken upon refracted and second hand report.
1678 H. Vaughan Thalia Rediviva 53 Whose lively fires..by refracted chance Burnish some neighbour-rock.
1856 R. A. Vaughan Hours with Mystics (1860) II. 230 According to Swedenborg, all the mythology and the symbolisms of ancient times were so many refracted or fragmentary correspondences.
1928 Times 27 Oct. 12/1 The New York speech, with its picture of State Socialism as a sort of refracted Bolshevism, gave the irrepressible Governor Smith an opening.
1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 June 692/1 This scene communicated a powerful if strangely refracted meaning to audiences around the world.
2000 N.Y. Times 9 July (Book Review) 25/1 Mundane facts..create a frisson of refracted ideas, tart memories, shared reactions, expectations and surprise.
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the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > decreased
diminutec1475
suppeditate?1526
lessened1565
minished1590
declined1591
reduced1591
bated1600
contracted1603
waneda1616
mute1627
shrivelleda1631
refracted1635
imminutea1681
retrenched1693
lowered1730
diminished1745
subdued1785
dwindled1796
depressed1831
shrunken1873
downrated1958
whittled-down1961
pared-down1974
slim-down1978
slimmed-down1978
1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi v. §2. 175 And so, with a refracted and disjoynted force, it [sc. the wind] is driven hither and thither.
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre ii. xxxv. 90 If they [sc. mercenary soldiers] be not entertained in too great numbers, but in such refracted degrees, that the natives may still have the predominancie.
Compounds
refracted angle n. Optics the angle between the refracted ray and a line normal to the surface at which refraction occurs (cf. angle of refraction n. at angle n.2 Phrases 2l).
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > refraction > [noun] > refracted light > plane or angle of
refracted angle1656
plane of refraction1706
1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. iii. xxiv. 279 The sine of the Refracted Angle in one Inclination.
1797 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 234/1 Before this time Kepler had published a New Table of refracted Angles.
1856 T. Dick Compl. Wks. II. v. 21/2 The sine of the incident angle is to the sine of the refracted angle in a given proportion.
1938 L. Hogben Sci. for Citizen iii. 131 We may compare the values of the refracted angle in Ptolemy's experiment calculated on the same assumption with the values he actually obtained.
2000 Internat. Jrnl. Plant Sci. 161 298/1 θ is the refracted angle of light in the filter.
Derivatives
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > refraction > [noun] > degree of refraction
refractedness1667
refrangibility1672
1667 T. Sprat Hist. Royal-Soc. 216 Experiments of the Transparency, and Refractedness of Flames.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1615