a unit for measuring the power of a lens to refract light (= make it change direction) 屈光度(透镜的折射能力单位) Word Originlate 16th cent. (originally as diopter): from French, from Latin dioptra, from Greek, from di- ‘through’ + optos ‘visible’. The term was used in the early 17th cent. to denote an ancient form of theodolite; the current sense dates from the late 19th cent.