5 results for: tangential

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

tan·gen·tial

Audio Help [tan-jen-shuh

–adjective

1.	pertaining to or of the nature of a tangent; being or moving in the direction of a tangent.

2.	merely touching; slightly connected: tangential information.

3.	divergent or digressive, as from a subject under consideration: tangential remarks.

4.	tending to digress or to reply to questions obliquely.

Also, tan·gen·tal

Audio Help [tan-jen-tl] Pronunciation Key.

[Origin: 1620–30; tangent + -ial

]

—Related forms

tan·gen·ti·al·i·ty, noun

tan·gen·tial·ly, tan·gen·tal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
tangential

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

tan·gen·tial Audio Help (tān-jěn'shəl) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Of, relating to, or moving along or in the direction of a tangent.
Merely touching or slightly connected.
Only superficially relevant; divergent: a tangential remark.

tan·gen'ti·al'i·ty (-shē-āl'ĭ-tē) n., tan·gen'tial·ly adv.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

tangential
adjective
1.	of superficial relevance if any; "a digressive allusion to the day of the week"; "a tangential remark" [syn: digressive]
2.	of or relating to or acting along or in the direction of a tangent; "tangential forces"

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Tangential

Tan*gen"tial\, a. (Geom.) Of or pertaining to a tangent; in the direction of a tangent.

Tangential force (Mech.), a force which acts on a moving body in the direction of a tangent to the path of the body, its effect being to increase or diminish the velocity; -- distinguished from a normal force, which acts at right angles to the tangent and changes the direction of the motion without changing the velocity.

Tangential stress. (Engin.) See Shear, n., 3.

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