Geometry. a line or a plane that touches a curve or a surface at a point so that it is closer to the curve in the vicinity of the point than any other line or plane drawn through the point.
5.
Trigonometry.
a.
(in a right triangle) the ratio of the side opposite a given angle to the side adjacent to the angle.
b.
Also called tan.(of an angle) a trigonometric function equal to the ratio of the ordinate of the end point of the arc to the abscissa of this end point, the origin being at the center of the circle on which the arc lies and the initial point of the arc being on the x-axis. Abbreviation:tg, tgn
c.
(originally) a straight line perpendicular to the radius of a circle at one end of an arc and extending from this point to the produced radius which cuts off the arc at its other end.
6.
the upright metal blade, fastened on the inner end of a clavichord key, that rises and strikes the string when the outer end of the key is depressed.
—Idiom
7.
off on or at a tangent, digressing suddenly from one course of action or thought and turning to another: The speaker flew off on a tangent.
[Origin: 1585–90; < L tangent- (s. of tangéns, prp. of tangere to touch) in phrase līnea tangéns touching line; see -ent]
Making contact at a single point or along a line; touching but not intersecting.
Irrelevant.
n.
A line, curve, or surface meeting another line, curve, or surface at a common point and sharing a common tangent line or tangent plane at that point.
Abbr. tanMathematics The trigonometric function of an acute angle in a right triangle that is the ratio of the length of the side opposite the angle to the length of the side adjacent to the angle.
A sudden digression or change of course: went off on a tangent during the courtroom argument.
Music An upright pin in a keyboard instrument, especially in a clavichord, that rises to sound a string when a key is depressed and stops the string at a preset length to set the pitch.
[Latin (līnea) tangēns, tangent-, touching (line), present participle of tangere, to touch; see tag- in Indo-European roots.]
1594, "meeting at a point without intersecting," from L. tangentem (nom. tangens), prp. of tangere "to touch," from PIE base *tag- "to touch, to handle" (cf. L. tactus "touch," Gk. tetagon "having seized," O.E. þaccian "stroke, strike gently"). First used by Dan. mathematician Thomas Fincke in "Geomietria Rotundi" (1583). The noun also is attested from 1594; extended sense of "slightly connected with a subject" is first recorded 1825. Tangential is recorded from 1630; fig. sense of "divergent, erratic" is from 1787.
A line, curve, or surface touching but not intersecting another.
The ratio of the length of the side opposite an acute angle in a right triangle to the side adjacent to the angle. The tangent of an angle is equal to the sine of the angle divided by the cosine of the angle.
The ratio of the ordinate to the abscissa of the endpoint of an arc of a unit circle centered at the origin of a Cartesian coordinate system, the arc being of length x and measured counterclockwise from the point (1, 0) if x is positive or clockwise if x is negative.
A function of a number x, equal to the tangent of an angle whose measure in radians is equal to x.
Tangent, OR (city, FIPS 72600) Location: 44.55120 N, 123.10790 W Population (1990): 556 (207 housing units) Area: 9.8 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 97389
At*tain"\ ([a^]t*t[=a]n"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Attained (-t[=a]nd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Attaining.] [Of. atteinen, atteignen, atainen, OF. ateindre, ataindre, F. atteindre, fr. L. attingere; ad + tangere to touch, reach. See Tangent, and cf. Attinge, Attaint.]1. To achieve or accomplish, that is, to reach by efforts; to gain; to compass; as, to attain rest. Is he wise who hopes to attain the end without the means? --Abp. Tillotson. 2. To gain or obtain possession of; to acquire. [Obs. with a material object.] --Chaucer. 3. To get at the knowledge of; to ascertain. [Obs.] Not well attaining his meaning. --Fuller. 4. To reach or come to, by progression or motion; to arrive at. "Canaan he now attains." --Milton. 5. To overtake. [Obs.] --Bacon. 6. To reach in excellence or degree; to equal. Syn: To Attain, Obtain, Procure. Usage: Attain always implies an effort toward an object. Hence it is not synonymous with obtain and procure, which do not necessarily imply such effort or motion. We procure or obtain a thing by purchase or loan, and we obtain by inheritance, but we do not attain it by such means.
Con*tin"gent\, a. [L. contingens, -entis, p. pr. of contingere to touch on all sides, to happen; con- + tangere to touch: cf. F. contingent. See Tangent, Tact.]1. Possible, or liable, but not certain, to occur; incidental; casual. Weighing so much actual crime against so much contingent advantage. --Burke. 2. Dependent on that which is undetermined or unknown; as, the success of his undertaking is contingent upon events which he can not control. "Uncertain and contingent causes." --Tillotson. 3. (Law) Dependent for effect on something that may or may not occur; as, a contingent estate. If a contingent legacy be left to any one when he attains, or if he attains, the age of twenty-one. --Blackstone.
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