tangent

[tan-juh nt] /ˈtæn dʒənt/

adjective

in immediate physical contact; touching.

Geometry.

touching at a single point, as a tangent in relation to a curve or surface.
in contact along a single line or element, as a plane with a cylinder.

noun

Geometry. a line or a plane that touches a curve or a surface at a point so that it is closer to the curve in the vicinity of the point than any other line or plane drawn through the point.

Trigonometry.

(in a right triangle) the ratio of the side opposite a given angle to the side adjacent to the angle.
Also called tan. (of an angle) a trigonometric function equal to the ratio of the ordinate of the end point of the arc to the abscissa of this end point, the origin being at the center of the circle on which the arc lies and the initial point of the arc being on the x-axis.
Abbreviation: tg, tgn.
(originally) a straight line perpendicular to the radius of a circle at one end of an arc and extending from this point to the produced radius which cuts off the arc at its other end.

the upright metal blade, fastened on the inner end of a clavichord key, that rises and strikes the string when the outer end of the key is depressed.

Idioms

off on / at a tangent, digressing suddenly from one course of action or thought and turning to another:

The speaker flew off on a tangent.

Origin

1585-90; < Latin tangent- (stem of tangēns, present participle of tangere to touch) in phrase līnea tangēns touching line; see -ent

Related forms

quasi-tangent, adjective

Can be confused

circumference, diameter, radius, tangent.

Synonyms

1. meeting, abutting.

Examples from the web for tangent

Where the form seems to take an almost arbitrary tangent, to use that word, it really hasn't at all.
But that doesn't mean the cost of education isn't on a terrifying tangent.
Who knows, it might even spark a whole new tangent to said research or to some other field.
Drill a port on the edge and weld on a pipe tangent to the edge.
In one remarkable tangent, the camera fixes its gaze on a litter of pigs nursing in a barn.
In fact, it will fly off in a direction tangent to the circular motion.
Some people in my dept have that spiraling tangent-style that has too many points.
Going off on some tangent about mock space vehicles and busting someone on grammatical errors, is a big difference.
Draw a null line from your now which is tangent to all the skewed light cones on the other lines.
Killing's theorem gives the relationship between the tangent to a geodesic and a direction that generates a symmetry.

British Dictionary definitions for tangent

tangent

/ˈtændʒənt/

noun

a geometric line, curve, plane, or curved surface that touches another curve or surface at one point but does not intersect it

(of an angle) a trigonometric function that in a right-angled triangle is the ratio of the length of the opposite side to that of the adjacent side; the ratio of sine to cosine tan

the straight part on a survey line between curves

(music) a part of the action of a clavichord consisting of a small piece of metal that strikes the string to produce a note

on a tangent, at a tangent, on a completely different or divergent course, esp of thought: to go off at a tangent

adjective

of or involving a tangent
touching at a single point

touching

almost irrelevant

Derived Forms

tangency, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Latin phrase līnea tangēns the touching line, from tangere to touch

Word Origin and History for tangent

adj.

1590s, "meeting at a point without intersecting," from Latin tangentem (nominative tangens), present participle of tangere "to touch," from PIE root *tag- "to touch, to handle" (cf. Latin tactus "touch," Greek tetagon "having seized," Old English þaccian "stroke, strike gently"). First used by Danish mathematician Thomas Fincke in "Geomietria Rotundi" (1583). Extended sense of "slightly connected with a subject" is first recorded 1825. The noun also is attested from 1590s.

tangent in Science

tangent

(tān'jənt)

A line, curve, or surface touching but not intersecting another.
The ratio of the length of the side opposite an acute angle in a right triangle to the side adjacent to the angle. The tangent of an angle is equal to the sine of the angle divided by the cosine of the angle.
The ratio of the ordinate to the abscissa of the endpoint of an arc of a unit circle centered at the origin of a Cartesian coordinate system, the arc being of length x and measured counterclockwise from the point (1, 0) if x is positive or clockwise if x is negative.
A function of a number x, equal to the tangent of an angle whose measure in radians is equal to x.

Idioms and Phrases with tangent

tangent

see: on a tangent