refractor
(rɪˈfræktə(r))
[f. refract v. + -or.]
† 1. A refractory person. Obs. rare—1.
| 1638 Laud Wks. (1853) V. 206, I have received an answer not much in effect differing from this petition, from two or three refractors in different parts. |
† 2. That which breaks or repels. Obs. rare—1.
| 1682 Grew Exp. Luctat. Menstruums fr. Bodies i. §13 For which reason..the best Correctors, or Refractors of the force of Colocynthis, are some kinds of Alkalies. |
3. a. A medium which refracts light; a refracting lens.
| 1836–41 Brande Chem. (ed. 5) 191 The ultimate direction of a refracted ray of light is influenced by the relative position of the surface of the refractor. c 1860 Faraday Forces Nat., Electric Light 190 As yet no attempt has been made to construct special..refractors for it. |
b. A refracting telescope. Cf. refracter.
| 1769 Phil. Trans. LIX. 308 The situation of the telescopes, the reflector being within the observatory, and the two refractors..without it, favoured this purpose. 1794 G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. II. xxii. 471 [Newton's telescopes] in power were compared to a six feet refractor. 1891 Anthony's Photogr. Bull. IV. 369 A reflector can always be mounted at far less cost than a refractor of equal aperture. |
4. Geol. A stratum, or an interface between strata, detected in refraction shooting.
| 1946 Geophysics XI. 40 The production in refraction shooting varies widely, depending on the surface conditions and also on the depth of the refractors. 1976 W. M. Telford et al. Appl. Geophysics iv. 365 Where a single refractor is being followed, a series of short refraction profiles are often shot rather than a long profile. |