different between tangential vs centripetal

English

Etymology

tangent +? -ial.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tæn?d??n.t??l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /tæn?d??nt.??l/, /tæn?d??n.??l/

Adjective

tangential (comparative more tangential, superlative most tangential)

1. Referring to a tangent, moving at a tangent to something.
2. Merely touching, positioned as a tangent.
   • 1898, Gary Nathan Calkins, Mitosis in Noctiluca miliaris and its bearing on the nuclear relations of the Protozoa and Metazoa, Ph.D. Thesis, page 3

     The archoplasm divides and forms a very large spindle which first lies tangential to the surface of the nucleus.

3. Only indirectly related.

   That subject is tangential to our discussion, and we cannot let it distract us.

Derived terms

• tangentially

Related terms

• tangent

Translations

Anagrams

• antitangle

English

Etymology

From New Latin coined by Sir Isaac Newton, from Latin centrum (“center”) + pet?, petere (“seek, aim”) +? -al.

Adjective

centripetal (not comparable)

1. Directed or moving towards a centre.
2. Of, relating to, or operated by centripetal force.
3. (neuroanatomy, of a nerve impulse) Directed towards the central nervous system; afferent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?n?t??p?t?l/, /?s?nt???pi?t?l/

Antonyms

• centrifugal

Derived terms

Translations

Romanian

Etymology

From German zentripetal

Adjective

centripetal m or n (feminine singular centripetal?, masculine plural centripetali, feminine and neuter plural centripetale)

1. centripetal

Declension