Tangent Definition
tănjənt
tangents
noun
tangents
A tangent line, curve, or surface.
Webster's New World
The length of a straight line tangent to a curve, measured from the point of tangency to the intersection of the tangent line with the x-axis.
Webster's New World
The reciprocal of the cotangent.
Webster's New World
A sudden digression or change of course.
Went off on a tangent during his presentation.
American Heritage
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.
American Heritage
adjective
That touches; touching.
Webster's New World
Touching and not intersecting a curve or curved surface at one and only one point.
Webster's New World
Of a topic, only loosely related to a main topic.
Wiktionary
idiom
go off at a tangent
- to break off suddenly from a line of action or train of thought and pursue another course
Webster's New World
Other Word Forms of Tangent
Noun
Singular:
tangent
Plural:
tangentsIdioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Tangent
- go off at a tangent
Origin of Tangent
-
From Latin tangentem, the accusative of tangÄ“ns (“touching") (in the phrase lÄ«nea tangÄ“ns (“a touching line")), the present participle of the verb tangō (“touch", verb), from Proto-Indo-European *tag-, *taǵ- (“to touch"). Cognate with Old English þaccian (“to touch lightly, pat, stroke"). More at thack, thwack.
From Wiktionary
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Latin (līnea) tangēns tangent- touching (line) present participle of tangere to touch tag- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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