Snell's law

/snɛlz lɔ/

proper noun

the law that, for a ray incident on the interface of two media, the sine of the angle of incidence times the index of the refraction of the first medium is equal to the sine of the angle of refraction times the index of refraction of the second medium

Similar
Descartes lawlaw of refractionSnell-Descartes law
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. engineeringthe law that, for a ray incident on the interface of two media, the sine of the angle of incidence times the index of the refraction of the first medium is equal to the sine of the angle of refraction times the index of refraction of the second medium

    Synonyms: Descartes law, law of refraction, Snell-Descartes law

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounthe law that, for a ray incident on the interface of two media, the sine of the angle of incidence times the index of the refraction of the first medium is equal to the sine of the angle of refraction times the index of refraction of the second medium

Similar
Descartes lawlaw of refractionSnell-Descartes law
Also see
descartes law

Origin

For Willebrord van Roijen Snell, Dutch mathematician.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French loi de Snell-Descartes de la réfraction
  • loi de Snell-Descartes de la réfractionlaw in optics
Polish prawo Snelliusa, prawo Snella
  • prawo Snelliusalaw in optics
  • prawo Snellalaw in optics
Cite this entry
APA

Snell's law. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Snell's%20law

MLA

“Snell's law.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Snell's%20law. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Snell's law,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Snell's%20law.

Source: Snell's law on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.