(thing) by Xamot Sun Nov 14 1999 at 8:59:53
  1. act of turning aside
  2. a twist or aberration; especially a perverse or abnormal way of judging or acting
  3. the property of being bent or deflected
  4. the amount by which a propagating wave is bent.

See: warp, refraction, bending, deviation, digression
I like it!