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tangency

 [tan-juhn-see]  

tan·gen·cy

   [tan-juhn-see]
noun
the state of being tangent.
Origin:
1810–20; tang(ent) + -ency
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Tangency is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
tangent (ˈtændʒənt)
 
—n
1.  a geometric line, curve, plane, or curved surface that touches another curve or surface at one point but does not intersect it
2.  tan (of an angle) a trigonometric function that in a right-angled triangle is the ratio of the length of the opposite side to that of the adjacent side; the ratio of sine to cosine
3.  the straight part on a survey line between curves
4.  music a part of the action of a clavichord consisting of a small piece of metal that strikes the string to produce a note
5.  on a tangent, at a tangent on a completely different or divergent course, esp of thought: to go off at a tangent
 
—adj
6.  a.  of or involving a tangent
 b.  touching at a single point
7.  touching
8.  almost irrelevant
 
[C16: from Latin phrase līnea tangēns the touching line, from tangere to touch]
 
'tangency
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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