折射（英语：refraction），一种常见的物理现象，意指当物体或波动由一种媒介斜射入另一种媒介造成速度改变而引起角度上的偏移。「折射」不一定等同于「光的折射」，所以虽然光线（一种横波）会因为「折射率」的不同令光的运行方向改变，但「折射」现象并不能用以证明光线是一种波动。最普遍的例子就是用手枪瞄准，当子弹穿过水时，其角度就会因为折射而偏移。

而所谓的「屈折」，也就是「光的折射」，专指光从一种介质进入另一种具有不同折射率之介质，或者在同一种介质中折射率不同的部分运行时，由于波速的差异，使光的运行方向改变的现象。例如当一条木棒插在水里面时，单用肉眼看会以为木棒进入水中时折曲了，这是光进入水里面时，产生折射，才带来这种效果。

Refraction is the change in direction of propagation of a wave due to a change in its transmission medium.

The phenomenon is explained by the conservation of energy and the conservation of momentum. Due to the change of medium, the phase velocity of the wave is changed but its frequency remains constant. This is most commonly observed when a wave passes from one medium to another at any angle other than 0° from the normal. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomenon, but any type of wave can refract when it interacts with a medium, for example when sound waves pass from one medium into another or when water waves move into water of a different depth. Refraction is described by Snell's law, which states that, for a given pair of media and a wave with a single frequency, the ratio of the sines of the angle of incidence θ₁ and angle of refraction θ₂ is equivalent to the ratio of phase velocities (v₁ / v₂) in the two media, or equivalently, to the opposite ratio of the indices of refraction (n₂ / n₁):