diffraction

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈfɹækʃən/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

diffraction (countable and uncountable, plural diffractions)

1. (physics) The bending of a wave around an obstacle.
2. (quantum mechanics) 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.

Derived terms

• diffraction grating
• diffraction limit
• diffraction pattern
• neutron diffraction
• transmission electron diffraction
• X-ray diffraction

 

Translations

the breaking up of an electromagnetic wave as it passes a geometric structure

• Bulgarian: дифракция f (difrakcija)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 衍射 (zh) (yǎnshè), 繞射／绕射 (zh) (ràoshè)

• Czech: difrakce f, ohyb (cs) m
• Esperanto: difrakto
• Finnish: diffraktio (fi), taipuminen (fi)
• French: diffraction (fr) f
• German: Beugung (de) f
• Greek: διάθλαση (el) f (diáthlasi)
• Indonesian: difraksi (id)
• Italian: diffrazione (it) f
• Kazakh: дифракция (difraksiä)
• Polish: dyfrakcja f
• Russian: дифра́кция (ru) f (difrákcija)
• Spanish: difracción (es) f
• Thai: การเลี้ยวเบน (gaan-líao-been)

French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

diffraction f (plural diffractions)

1. diffraction

Related terms

• diffracter
• diffractif

Further reading

• “diffraction”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.