Etymograph

English

refringence

Refringence comes from Latin refringō ‘to break up or open’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-1‘to break’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrangō2‘to break, shatter’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErefringō3as refringere‘to break up or open’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1891refringence3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin frango
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin refringo
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English refringence
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1891, Charles Slater, Memoirs: On a Red Pigment-forming Organism, B. corallinus (?: “By far the most noticeable characteristic is the highly…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-Wiktionary, Latin frango‘to break’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfrangōWiktionary, Latin refringo‘to break, shatter’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErefringōWiktionary, English refringenceas refringere‘to break up or open’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1891refringenceWiktionary, English refringence. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1891, Charles Slater, Memoirs: On a Red Pigment-forming Organism, B. corallinus (?: “By far the most noticeable characteristic is the highly…”

The story

Refract and derivatives come from the past participle of the same Latin verb.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break’

break, broke, brake, bracket, fraction, brigade, bray, frail, suffrage, breech, brogan, brogue, 35 more

through Latin frangō ‘to break, shatter’

fragile, fracture, fragment, refrain, diffraction, fret, fractal, infraction, infringe, 15 more

through Latin refringō ‘to break up or open’

refractory, refraction

Today it means

noun refractive power; refraction

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “refringence”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin frango, Latin refringo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- / refringence

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