Dis*per"sion (?), n. [Cf. F.
dispersion.] 1. The act or process of
scattering or dispersing, or the state of being scattered or
separated; as, the Jews in their dispersion retained their
rites and ceremonies; a great dispersion of the human family
took place at the building of Babel.
The days of your slaughter and of your
dispersions are accomplished.
Jer. xxv.
34.
2. (Opt.) The separation of light into
its different colored rays, arising from their different
refrangibilities.
Dispersion of the optic axes
(Crystallog.), the separation of the optic axes in biaxial
crystals, due to the fact that the axial angle has different values
for the different colors of the spectrum.