Etymology

photorefractive

P3H4O1T1O1R1E1F4R1A1C3T1I1V4E1

Today it means: of or relating to a change in refractive index in the presence of light Full definition →

English refractive ← Ancient Greek φωτο- (phōto-) ← Proto-Hellenic *pʰáwos
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰéh₂os
  3. Proto-Hellenic*pʰáwos
  4. Ancient Greekφᾰ́ος (phắos)
  5. Ancient Greekφῶς (phôs)
  6. Ancient Greekφωτο- (phōto-)
  7. Englishphoto-
  8. Englishrefract
  9. Englishrefractive
  10. English todayphotorefractive

From photo- + refractive.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.