angle of incidence


noun
  1. Also called incidence. Optics, Physics. the angle that a straight line, ray of light, etc., meeting a surface, makes with a normal to the surface at the point of meeting. Abbreviation: aoi: Compare angle of reflection.

  2. (on an airplane) the angle, usually fixed, between a wing or tail root chord and the axis of the fuselage.

  1. Chiefly British. angle of attack (def. 1).

Origin of angle of incidence

1
First recorded in 1620–30

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use angle of incidence in a sentence

  • Strange to say, that from about the same time, Lady Aoi became ill, and began to suffer from spiritual influences.

British Dictionary definitions for angle of incidence

angle of incidence

noun
  1. the angle that a line or beam of radiation makes with the normal to the surface at the point of incidence

  2. another name for angle of attack

  1. Also called: rigging angle of incidence the angle between the chord line of an aircraft wing or tailplane and the aircraft's longitudinal axis

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for angle of incidence

angle of incidence

  1. The angle formed by a ray or wave, as of light or sound, striking a surface and a line perpendicular to the surface at the point of impact.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.