refringence
nounEtymology From refringe + -ence, from Latin refringere. Refract and derivatives come from the past participle of the same Latin verb.
1
Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics refractive power; refraction
- By far the most noticeable characteristic is the highly refringent nature of the poles of the cells. This refringence is noticed in a very large proportion of the cells of a culture examined at any stage of growth, and will be again referred to.1891 June, Charles Slater, “Memoirs: On a Red Pigment-forming Organism, B. corallinus (?)”, in The Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science (new series), volume 32, page 409:
- Derived terms
- birefringence