屈折

• 読み: くっせつ
• ローマ字: kussetsu
• 漢字の分解: 屈 (kutsu) — to bend, to yield; 折 (setsu) — to fold, to break, to deflect
• 発音: /kɯs.se.tsɯ/

意味

Refraction; the bending of a wave (light, sound) as it passes from one medium to another of different density. Also used figuratively for distortion or complexity of character.

In optics, 屈折 describes the change in direction of light when it passes between media of different refractive indices (屈折率 — refractive index). Snell's Law (スネルの法則) governs this relationship. 屈折率 is critical in lens design, fibre optics (光ファイバー), and gemology. In figurative use, 屈折した性格 (a twisted or complex personality) describes someone whose emotional or psychological development has been warped by experience — a common literary trope.

例文

1. 光が水中に入ると屈折し、見かけの位置が実際とずれて見える現象が起きる。
2. レンズの屈折率を精密に設計することで、カメラや顕微鏡の光学性能が決まる。
3. 複雑な家庭環境で育ったせいか、彼は屈折した感情を抱えたまま大人になった。

使い方ガイド

場面: optics, physics, engineering, literature, psychology

トーン: technical to literary

起源と歴史

Sino-Japanese compound: 屈 (kutsu) — to bend, to yield + 折 (setsu/ori) — to fold, to break. Both characters convey bending or deflection. Used in classical Japanese for bending of things or submission, and adopted in Meiji-era physics for 'refraction'.

文化的背景

時代: Meiji-Modern

世代: Adult

社会的背景: Educated