tangent

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a ratio of the opposite to the adjacent side of a right-angled triangle

   I used the tangent of the sides to calculate the length of the hypotenuse.

2. 2
   noun

   a straight line or plane that touches a curve or curved surface at a point but does not intersect it at that point

   The tangent touched the arc at its apex.

3. 3
   noun

   a topic that is related, but not the same as, an original topic

   I was told to talk about boats, but I went on a tangent about trade winds.

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.

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