diffraction
/dɪˈfɹækʃən/noun
diffraction is spelled D-I-F-F-R-A-C-T-I-O-N: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, diffraction means “The bending of a wave around an obstacle” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of diffraction is diffractions.
How many letters and syllables are in diffraction?
| Letters | 11: D-I-F-F-R-A-C-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,150th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is diffraction?
Diffraction appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce diffraction?
- /dɪˈfɹækʃən/
Diffraction has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-diffraction.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of diffraction
- diffractions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does diffraction mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The bending of a wave around an obstacle.
- 2
The breaking up of an electromagnetic wave as it passes a geometric structure (e.g. a slit), followed by reconstruction of the wave by interference.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Diffraction in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the breaking up of an electromagnetic wave as it passes a geometric structure:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | diffraction |
| German | Beugung |
| Spanish | difracción |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does diffraction come from?
From New Latin diffrāctiō (in which coined by Francesco Maria Grimaldi), from Latin diffrāctus, past participle of Latin diffringo (“to shatter, to break into pieces”). Coined in Physico-mathesis de lumine (1665) by Francesco Maria Grimaldi.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).