tangent

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

tangent

Wikipedia

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• enPR: tăn'jənt, IPA^(key): /ˈtæn.d͡ʒənt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ændʒənt

Noun

tangent (plural tangents)

1. (differential geometry) A straight line touching a curve at a single point without crossing it there.
   • 1951 May, “British Railways Standard Coaches”, in Railway Magazine, page 327:

     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.

   Synonym: tangent line

2. (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.
3. A topic nearly unrelated to the main topic, but having a point in common with it.

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

   • 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 1, in Well Tackled!‎:

     “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?”

   • 2009 May 22, Stuart Heritage, “Jon & Kate Latest: People You Don’t Know Do Crap You Don’t Care About”, in Hecklerspray‎, archived from the original on 15 April 2024:

     Jon & Kate Plus 8 is a show based on two facts: (1) Jon and Kate Gosselin have eight children, and (2) the word ‘Kate’ rhymes with the word ‘eight’. One suspects that if Kate were ever to have another child, a shady network executive would urge her to put it in a binbag with a brick and drop it down a well. But this is just a horrifying tangent.

4. (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.
5. (music) A small metal blade in a clavichord that strikes the strings to produce sound.

Derived terms

• arctangent
• cotangent
• fly off at a tangent
• go off at a tangent
• go off on a tangent
• hyperbolic tangent
• inflectional tangent
• inverse tangent
• tangent bundle
• tangent plane
• tangent space

Related terms

• tangential

Translations

in geometry

Arabic: مُمَاسّ m (mumāss) Armenian: շոշափող (hy) (šošapʻoġ) Asturian: tanxente f Belarusian: даты́чная f (datýčnaja) Bulgarian: допира́телна (bg) f (dopirátelna) Catalan: tangent f Chinese: Mandarin: 切線 / 切线 (zh) (qiēxiàn) Czech: tečna f Danish: tangent c Dutch: raaklijn (nl) f Esperanto: tanĝanto Finnish: tangentti (fi), sivuaja (fi) French: tangente (fr) f Galician: tanxente (gl) f Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: Tangente (de) f Greek: εφαπτομένη (el) f (efaptoméni) Hindi: स्पर्शरेखा (hi) (sparśarekhā) Hungarian: érintő (hu) Icelandic: snertill (is) m Italian: tangente (it) f Japanese: 接線 (ja) (せっせん, sessen) Korean: 접선 (jeopseon) Manx: tanjent m Maori: pātapa Norwegian: Bokmål: tangent (no) m Nynorsk: tangent m Persian: مماس (fa) (momâss) Polish: styczna (pl) f Portuguese: tangente (pt) f Romanian: tangentă (ro) f Russian: каса́тельная (ru) f (kasátelʹnaja) Slovak: dotyčnica f Spanish: tangente (es) f Swedish: tangent (sv) c Tagalog: dikit Telugu: తిర్యగ్రేఖ (tiryagrēkha) Thai: เส้นสัมผัส Turkish: teğet (tr) Ukrainian: доти́чна f (dotýčna) Vietnamese: tiếp tuyến (vi)

in trigonometry

Afrikaans: tangens, tangense pl, raaklyn, raaklyne pl Arabic: ظِلّ الزَّاوِيَة m (ẓill az-zāwiya) Armenian: տանգենս (hy) (tangens) Asturian: tanxente f Belarusian: та́нгенс m (tánhjens) Bulgarian: та́нгенс m (tángens) Burmese: တန်းဂျင့် (tan:gyang.) Catalan: tangent f Cebuano: liras Chinese: Mandarin: 正切 (zh) (zhèngqiē) Czech: tangens (cs) m Danish: tangens c Dutch: tangens (nl) m Esperanto: tangento Finnish: tangentti (fi) French: tangente (fr) f Galician: tanxente (gl) f German: Tangens (de) m Greek: εφαπτομένη (el) f (efaptoméni) Hebrew: טנגנס (he) m (tangens) Hungarian: tangens (hu) Icelandic: tangens m Italian: tangente (it) f Japanese: タンジェント (ja) (tanjento), 正接 (ja) (せいせつ, seisetsu) Khmer: តង់សង់ (tɑngsɑng) Korean: 탄젠트 (tanjenteu) Manx: tanjent m Maori: pātapa Norwegian: Bokmål: tangens m Nynorsk: tangens m Persian: تانژانت (fa) (tānžānt), ظل (fa) (zel) Polish: tangens (pl) m Portuguese: tangente (pt) f Romanian: tangentă (ro) f Russian: та́нгенс (ru) m (tángens) Spanish: tangente (es) f Swedish: tangens (sv) c Tagalog: tanway Thai: แทนเจนต์ Turkish: tanjant (tr) Ukrainian: та́нгенс (uk) m (tánhens) Vietnamese: tang (vi)

nearly unrelated topic

Bulgarian: отклонение (bg) n (otklonenie) Catalan: tangent f Danish: sidespor n Esperanto: parentezaĵo Finnish: sivuraide, harhapolku German: Nebensache (de) f Polish: punkt wspólny m Russian: отклоне́ние от те́мы n (otklonénije ot témy), отступле́ние (ru) n (otstuplénije), побо́чная те́ма f (pobóčnaja téma), де́бри (ru) f pl (débri), каки́е-то де́бри f pl (kakíje-to débri), не в ту степь (ne v tu stepʹ)

(art) visual interaction between lines

Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Italian: (please verify) tangente (it) f (1)

Adjective

tangent (not comparable)

1. (geometry) Touching a curve at a single point but not crossing it at that point.
2. Of a topic, only loosely related to a main topic.
3. (rail transport, of track) Straight; not horizontally curved.

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

Derived terms

• tangently

Translations

in geometry

Asturian: tanxente Bulgarian: допирателен (bg) (dopiratelen), тангенциален (bg) (tangencialen) Catalan: tangent (ca) French: tangente (fr) Galician: tanxente (gl) Italian: tangente (it) Portuguese: tangente (pt) Spanish: tangente (es)

of a topic

Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can

rail tracks

Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can

See also

• cosine
• non sequitur
• sine
• trigonometry

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tangentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [təɲˈʒen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [təɲˈʒent]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [taɲˈd͡ʒent]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

tangent f (plural tangents)

1. (trigonometry) tangent

Derived terms

• cotangent

Further reading

• “tangent”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Danish

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin tangēns; cf. German Tangente.

Noun

tangent c (singular definite tangenten, plural indefinite tangenter)

1. (geometry) tangent

   Differentialregning kan fortolkes som forsøget på at bestemme en tangents hældning.

   Differential calculus may be interpreted as the attempt to determine the slope of a tangent.

2. piano key

Declension

Declension of tangent

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	tangent	tangenten	tangenter	tangenterne
genitive	tangents	tangentens	tangenters	tangenternes

Related terms

• tangens
• tangerende
• tangere

References

• “tangent” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tangentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɑ̃.ʒɑ̃/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Adjective

tangent (feminine tangente, masculine plural tangents, feminine plural tangentes)

1. (mathematics) tangential
2. borderline

Further reading

• “tangent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈtaŋ.ɡɛnt]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈt̪an̠ʲ.d͡ʒen̪t̪]

Verb

tangent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of tangō

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

tangent

Wikipedia ^no

Etymology

From German Tangente, Tangens, ultimately from Latin tangēns.

Noun

tangent m (definite singular tangenten, indefinite plural tangenter, definite plural tangentene)

1. (geometry) tangent
2. (music) key (e.g., on a piano)

References

• “tangent” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

tangent

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Etymology

From German Tangente, Tangens, ultimately from Latin tangēns.

Noun

tangent m (definite singular tangenten, indefinite plural tangentar, definite plural tangentane)

1. (geometry) tangent
2. (music) key (e.g., on a piano)

References

• “tangent” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French tangent, Latin tangēns, tangentem.

Adjective

tangent m or n (feminine singular tangentă, masculine plural tangenți, feminine and neuter plural tangente)

1. tangent

Declension

Declension of tangent

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	tangent		tangentă		tangenți	tangente
	definite	tangentul		tangenta		tangenții	tangentele
genitive- dative	indefinite	tangent		tangente		tangenți	tangente
	definite	tangentului		tangentei		tangenților	tangentelor

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:

tangent

Wikipedia ^sv

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin tangēns; cf. German Tangente.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tanˈjɛnt/, /tanˈɡɛnt/

Noun

tangent c

1. a key (on a typewriter, computer keyboard, piano, or the like)
2. (mathematics) a tangent
3. (mathematics, dated, only in the singular definite) tangent (trigonometric function)

   Synonyms: tangens, tan

Declension

Declension of tangent

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	tangent	tangents
	definite	tangenten	tangentens
plural	indefinite	tangenter	tangenters
	definite	tangenterna	tangenternas

Derived terms

• tangentbord (“keyboard”)

Related terms

• tangens
• tangera

See also

• klaverinstrument

References

• tangent in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• tangent in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• tangent in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)