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tangent
tan  = a/
b
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tan·gent
 (t n j nt)
KEY
ADJECTIVE:
- Making contact at a single point or along a line; touching but not intersecting.
- Irrelevant.
NOUN:
- A line, curve, or surface meeting another line, curve, or surface at a common point and sharing a common tangent line or tangent plane at that point.
-
Abbr.
tan
Mathematics
The trigonometric function of an acute angle in a right triangle that is the ratio of the length of the side opposite the angle to the length of the side adjacent to the angle.
- A sudden digression or change of course:
went off on a tangent during the courtroom argument.
-
Music
An upright pin in a keyboard instrument, especially in a clavichord, that rises to sound a string when a key is depressed and stops the string at a preset length to set the pitch.
ETYMOLOGY:
Latin (l nea) tang ns
, tangent-, touching (line), present participle of tangere, to touch; see tag- in Indo-European roots |
