refract
verb
refract is spelled R-E-F-R-A-C-T: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 102,771st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, refract means “Of a medium, substance, object, etc.: to deflect the course of (light rays), esp. when they enter the medium, etc., at an oblique angle; to cause…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in refract?
| Letters | 7: R-E-F-R-A-C-T |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 12 million words; the 102,771st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is refract?
Refract appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 102,771st 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 refract?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-refract.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with refract?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as refract.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: crafter.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of refract
- refracts present, singular, he/she/it
- refracting participle, present
- refracted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does refract mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
Of a medium, substance, object, etc.: to deflect the course of (light rays), esp. when they enter the medium, etc., at an oblique angle; to cause refraction of (light, other electromagnetic radiation, or sound or other wave phenomena).
- 2
To mediate; to alter; to distort.
- 3
To cause (light) to change direction as a result of entering a different medium.
- 4
To measure, and often also to correct with lenses, the refractive error of (an eye) or the eyes of (a person).
A prism can refract light.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Refract in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 refract come from?
From Latin refrāctum, neuter form of refrāctus, the past participle of refringō, itself from re- (“again”) + frangō (“to break”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).