tangent means touching a curve at a single point but not crossing it at that point.
tangent is pronounced /ˈtæn.d͡ʒənt/.
Why “tangent” is a great word
A line that touches a curve at a single point without crossing it, or a digression that departs abruptly from a main subject. From the Latin tangēns, tangentem ("touching"), present participle of tangō ("to touch"), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- ("to touch"). Unlike a secant—which slices through, committing to two intersections—or tangential, which qualifies a connection as slight, the noun "tangent" is the errant turn itself. It is the glancing kiss of a straight edge against a spiral’s flank, the bicycle wheel that kisses the curb at one spinning point, the conversation that begins with mortgage rates and ends with the migratory patterns of monarch butterflies—the beautiful impossibility of touching without holding, of connection without commitment.
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.
adj
- Touching a curve at a single point but not crossing it at that point.
- Of a topic, only loosely related to a main topic.
- Straight; not horizontally curved.e.g.“The collision occurred on a two-mile stretch of tangent track.”
noun
- A straight line touching a curve at a single point without crossing it there.
- 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.
- A topic nearly unrelated to the main topic, but having a point in common with it.e.g.“I believe we went off onto a tangent when we started talking about monkeys on unicycles at his retirement party.”
- 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.
- A small metal blade in a clavichord that strikes the strings to produce sound.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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