| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| diffraction |
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| SYLLABICATION: | dif·frac·tion |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  d -fr k sh n |
| NOUN: | Change in the directions and intensities of a group of waves after passing by an obstacle or through an aperture whose size is approximately the same as the wavelength of the waves. | | ETYMOLOGY: | New Latin diffr cti , diffrctin-, from Latin diffrctus, past participle of diffringere : dis-, apart; see dis– + frangere, to break; see bhreg- in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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