sine

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   in a right triangle, the ratio of the side opposite an angle to the hypotenuse; more generally, the corresponding trigonometric function

   The sine of thirty degrees is one half.

Borrowed from Latin sinus ("curve, fold, bosom"), used to translate Arabic jayb ("bosom"). Jayb arose from a reading of consonantal j-y-b, representing Arabic jiba, itself borrowed from Sanskrit jya ("bowstring, chord"). The mathematical term is therefore the result of a historic translation chain.

Topics