different between tangent vs pseudotriangle

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tangentem, the accusative of tang?ns (“touching”) (in the phrase l?nea tang?ns (“a touching line”)), the present participle of the verb tang? (“touch”, verb), from Proto-Indo-European *tag-, *ta?- (“to touch”). Cognate with Old English þaccian (“to touch lightly, pat, stroke”). More at thack, thwack.

Pronunciation

• enPR: t?n'j?nt, IPA^(key): /?tæn.d??nt/

Noun

tangent (plural tangents)

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

   • 2009: Stuart Heritage, Hecklerspray, Friday the 22^nd of May in 2009 at 1 o’clock p.m., “Jon & Kate Latest: People You Don’t Know Do Crap You Don’t Care About”

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

Synonyms

• (straight line): tangent line

Derived terms

• arctangent
• cotangent
• hyperbolic tangent

Related terms

• tangential

Translations

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.

Derived terms

• tangently

See also

• cosine
• non sequitur
• sine
• trigonometry

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin tang?ns.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /t????ent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /t????en/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /ta??d??ent/

Noun

tangent f (plural tangents)

1. (trigonometry) tangent

Derived terms

• cotangent

Further reading

• “tangent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Danish

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin tang?ns; cf. German Tangente.

Noun

tangent c (singular definite tangenten, plural indefinite tangenter)

1. (geometry) tangent

2. piano key

Declension

Related terms

• tangens
• tangerende
• tangere

References

• “tangent” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tang?ns, tangentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??.???/

Adjective

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

1. (mathematics) tangential
2. borderline

Further reading

• “tangent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?tan.?ent/, [?t?ä???n?t?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?tan.d??ent/, [?t??n??d???n?t?]

Verb

tangent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of tang?

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From German Tangente, Tangens, ultimately from Latin tang?ns.

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

Etymology

From German Tangente, Tangens, ultimately from Latin tang?ns.

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 tang?ns, tangentem.

Adjective

tangent m or n (feminine singular tangent?, masculine plural tangen?i, feminine and neuter plural tangente)

1. tangent

Declension

Swedish

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin tang?ns; cf. German Tangente.

Noun

tangent c

1. key (button on a typewriter, computer keyboard or piano)
2. (mathematics) tangent

Declension

Related terms

• tangens
• tangentbord

English

Etymology

pseudo- +? triangle

Noun

pseudotriangle (plural pseudotriangles)

1. (mathematics) Any subset of a plane that lies between any three mutually tangent convex sets