Tangent

Quick meaning: Tangent is a noun meaning (differential geometry) A straight line touching a curve at a single point without crossing it there.

Meaning

(differential geometry) A straight line touching a curve at a single point without crossing it there.

More Meanings

1. A topic nearly unrelated to the main topic, but having a point in common with it.
2. (music) A small metal blade in a clavichord that strikes the strings to produce sound.
3. (geometry) Touching a curve at a single point but not crossing it at that point.
4. Of a topic, only loosely related to a main topic.
5. (rail transport, of track) Straight; not horizontally curved.
6. (mathematics) A function of an angle that gives the ratio of the sine to the cosine, in either the real or complex numbers. Symbols: tan, tg.
7. (art) A visual interaction between two or more lines or edges that creates a perceived relationship between them, often in a way that the artist did not intend.

Example Sentences

The collision occurred on a two-mile stretch of tangent track.

I believe we went off onto a tangent when we started talking about monkeys on unicycles at his retirement party.

“Uncle Barnaby was always father and mother to me,” Benson broke in; then after a pause his mind flew off at a tangent. “Is old Hannah all right—in the will, I mean?”

One feature of the body, which is constructed of pressed-steel members, is the contour of the sides. They are in the form of a continuous radius from the bottom side to the cant rail, and to enable flat glass windows to be fitted the side panels are pressed around the window opening, forming a tangent to the curved bodyside.

Word Forms

• tangents

Synonyms for tangent

Depending on context, synonyms include tangential.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include paper, tangential, digression, getaway, lam, shear.

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