tangent
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin tangentem, the accusative of tangēns (“touching”) (in the phrase līnea tangēns (“a touching line”)), the present participle of the verb tangō (“touch”, verb), from Proto-Italic *tangō, from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to touch”).
Cognate with Old English þaccian (“to touch lightly, pat, stroke”). More at thack, thwack.
Pronunciation
Noun
tangent (plural tangents)
- (differential geometry) A straight line touching a curve at a single point without crossing it there.
- 1951 May, “British Railways Standard Coaches”, in Railway Magazine, page 327:
- One feature of the body, which is constructed of pressed-steel members, is the contour of the sides. They are in the form of a continuous radius from the bottom side to the cant rail, and to enable flat glass windows to be fitted the side panels are pressed around the window opening, forming a tangent to the curved bodyside.
- Synonym: tangent line
- (mathematics) A function of an angle that gives the ratio of the sine to the cosine, in either the real or complex numbers. Symbols: tan, tg.
- A topic nearly unrelated to the main topic, but having a point in common with it.
- I believe we went off onto a tangent when we started talking about monkeys on unicycles at his retirement party.
- 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 1, in Well Tackled![1]:
- “Uncle Barnaby was always father and mother to me,” Benson broke in; then after a pause his mind flew off at a tangent. “Is old Hannah all right—in the will, I mean?”
- 2009: Stuart Heritage, Hecklerspray, Friday the 22nd of May in 2009 at 1 o’clock p.m., “Jon & Kate Latest: People You Don’t Know Do Crap You Don’t Care About”
- Jon & Kate Plus 8 is a show based on two facts: (1) Jon and Kate Gosselin have eight children, and (2) the word ‘Kate’ rhymes with the word ‘eight’. One suspects that if Kate were ever to have another child, a shady network executive would urge her to put it in a binbag with a brick and drop it down a well. But this is just a horrifying tangent.
- (art) A visual interaction between two or more lines or edges that creates a perceived relationship between them, often in a way that the artist did not intend.
- (music) A small metal blade in a clavichord that strikes the strings to produce sound.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Adjective
tangent (not comparable)
- (geometry) Touching a curve at a single point but not crossing it at that point.
- Of a topic, only loosely related to a main topic.
- (rail transport, of track) Straight; not horizontally curved.
- The collision occurred on a two-mile stretch of tangent track.
Derived terms
See also
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin tangentem.
Pronunciation
Noun
tangent f (plural tangents)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “tangent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Danish
Etymology
Ultimately from Latin tangēns; cf. German Tangente.
Noun
tangent c (singular definite tangenten, plural indefinite tangenter)
- (geometry) tangent
- Differentialregning kan fortolkes som forsøget på at bestemme en tangents hældning.
- Differential calculus may be interpreted as the attempt to determine the slope of a tangent.
- piano key
Declension
common gender |
Singular | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
nominative | tangent | tangenten | tangenter | tangenterne |
genitive | tangents | tangentens | tangenters | tangenternes |
Related terms
References
- “tangent” in Den Danske Ordbog
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin tangentem.
Pronunciation
Adjective
tangent (feminine tangente, masculine plural tangents, feminine plural tangentes)
Further reading
- “tangent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈtan.ɡent/, [ˈt̪äŋɡɛn̪t̪]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈtan.d͡ʒent/, [ˈt̪än̠ʲd͡ʒen̪t̪]
Verb
tangent
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From German Tangente, Tangens, ultimately from Latin tangēns.
Noun
tangent m (definite singular tangenten, indefinite plural tangenter, definite plural tangentene)
References
- “tangent” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From German Tangente, Tangens, ultimately from Latin tangēns.
Noun
tangent m (definite singular tangenten, indefinite plural tangentar, definite plural tangentane)
References
- “tangent” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French tangent, Latin tangēns, tangentem.
Adjective
tangent m or n (feminine singular tangentă, masculine plural tangenți, feminine and neuter plural tangente)
Declension
singular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
nominative/ accusative |
indefinite | tangent | tangentă | tangenți | tangente | ||
definite | tangentul | tangenta | tangenții | tangentele | |||
genitive/ dative |
indefinite | tangent | tangente | tangenți | tangente | ||
definite | tangentului | tangentei | tangenților | tangentelor |
Swedish
Etymology
Ultimately from Latin tangēns; cf. German Tangente.
Noun
tangent c
- a key (on a typewriter, computer keyboard, piano, or the like)
- (mathematics) a tangent
- (mathematics, dated, only in the singular definite) tangent (trigonometric function)
Declension
Derived terms
- tangentbord (“keyboard”)
Related terms
References
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *teh₂g- (touch)
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Italic
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ænd͡ʒənt
- Rhymes:English/ænd͡ʒənt/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Differential geometry
- English terms with quotations
- en:Mathematics
- en:Art
- en:Music
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- en:Geometry
- en:Rail transportation
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Trigonometry
- en:Trigonometric functions
- en:Shapes
- en:Curves
- Catalan terms borrowed from Latin
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan nouns
- Catalan countable nouns
- Catalan feminine nouns with no feminine ending
- Catalan feminine nouns
- ca:Trigonometry
- Danish terms derived from Latin
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish common-gender nouns
- da:Geometry
- Danish terms with usage examples
- French terms borrowed from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French adjectives
- fr:Mathematics
- Latin 2-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin verb forms
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from German
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- nb:Geometry
- nb:Musical instruments
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from German
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk masculine nouns
- nn:Geometry
- nn:Musical instruments
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian terms borrowed from Latin
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian adjectives
- Swedish terms derived from Latin
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- sv:Mathematics
- Swedish dated terms