tangent

View more Science videos

A term describing a relationship of two figures (usually of the same dimension) in the neighborhood of a common point. The figures are tangent at a point P if they touch at P but do not intersect in a sufficiently small neighborhood of P. To be more precise, if P denotes a point of a curve C (see illustration), a line L is a tangent to C at P provided L is the limit of lines joining P to a variable point Q of C, as Q approaches P along C (that is, for Q sufficiently close to P, the line PQ is arbitrarily close to L).

Line L tangent to curve C at P.

---

noun

An instance of digressing: aside, deviation, digression, divagation, divergence, divergency, excursion, excursus, irrelevancy, parenthesis. See approach/retreat.

Of lines, curves, and surfaces: meeting at a single point and having, at that point, the same direction.

---

A line that touches a curve at a single point but does not cross the curve. The tangent of a circle at any point is at right angles to the radius of the circle at that point.

---

1. abbr.: tan; a function of an angle, being, in a right-angled triangle, the ratio of the side opposite the given angle (if acute) to that of the side opposite the other acute angle. The tangent of an obtuse angle is numerically equal to that of its supplement but of opposite sign.
2. a straight line that touches, but does not cut, a curve or a curved surface.

Previous:	tandem repeat, tandem mass spectrometry, tandem affinity purification
Next:	tangential-flow filtration, tankyrase, tannic acid

For a list of words related to tangent, see:

• Quantities, Relationships, and Operations - tangent: trigonometric ratio between leg opposite acute angle in right triangle and leg adjacent to it
• Reason and Rationale - tangent: sudden change or digression in reasoning process

---

See words rhyming with "tangent."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Tangent.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - tangent, tangens
adj. - tangent-, tangerende, berørende

idioms:

• at a tangent    følge en (tanke)bane

Nederlands (Dutch)
raaklijn, rakend aan

Français (French)
n. - tangente
adj. - tangent

idioms:

• at a tangent    dévier, faire une digression

Deutsch (German)
n. - Tangens, Tangente
adj. - (sich) berührend

idioms:

• at a tangent    mit plötzlich geändertem Kurs, weit abgekommen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (μαθημ.) εφαπτομένη (γωνίας)
adj. - εφαπτόμενος

idioms:

• at a tangent    για διαφορετικό θέμα

Italiano (Italian)
tangente

idioms:

• at a tangent    per la tangente

Português (Portuguese)
n. - tangente (f), tangente (f) trigonométrica (Mat.)
adj. - tangente

idioms:

• at a tangent    sair pela tangente, tangencial

Русский (Russian)
(мат.) тангент, касательная

idioms:

• at a tangent    отклонение от темы

Español (Spanish)
n. - tangente
adj. - tangente

idioms:

• at a tangent    salirse por la tangente

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - tangent (geom. matem.)
adj. - tangerande, tangerings-, berörings-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
切线, 正切, 接触的, 相切的, 切线的

idioms:

• at a tangent    离题, 偏离原来途径

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 切線, 正切
adj. - 接觸的, 相切的, 切線的

idioms:

• at a tangent    離題, 偏離原來途徑

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 접선, 탄젠트, 직선구간
adj. - ~에 접한

idioms:

• at a tangent    갑자기 옆길로 새다, (방침을) 느닷없이 바꾸다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 接線, 正接, 脱線
adj. - 接する, 接線の

idioms:

• at a tangent    急転換する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ظل ألزاويه (صفه) خارج ألزاويه, مماس,‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮משיק - קו הנוגע בקו אחר בנקודה אחת, טנגנס - היחס בין הניצב שמול הזווית לניצב שליד הזווית במשולש ישר-זווית‬
adj. - ‮נוגע, של משיק‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

Some good "tangent" pages on the web: