tangent.
A straight line touching a curve at a single point without crossing it there.
Meaning & usage
A straight line touching a curve at a single point without crossing it there.
A function of an angle that gives the ratio of the sine to the cosine, in either the real or complex numbers. Symbols: tan, tg.
A course suddenly and unexpectedly divergent from one which was previously being followed (especially one embarked on before reaching the end of the previous course).
A course suddenly and unexpectedly divergent from one which was previously being followed (especially one embarked on before reaching the end of the previous course). A new topic of discussion unrelated to the one which came before it, arrived at due to a single (peripheral or trivial) point in common with it.
I believe we went off onto a tangent when we started talking about monkeys on unicycles at his retirement party.
A visual interaction between two or more lines or edges that creates a perceived relationship between them, often in a way that the artist did not intend.
A small metal blade in a clavichord that strikes the strings to produce sound.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- Proto-Italic *tangō Latin tangō Latin tangēns Latin tangentembor. English tangent Borrowed from Latin tangentem, the accusative of tangēns (“touching”) (in the phrase līnea tangēns (“a touching line”)), the present participle of the verb tangō (“touch”, verb), from Proto-Italic *tangō, from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to touch”). Cognate with Old English þaccian (“to touch lightly, pat, stroke”). More at thack, thwack.
Touching a curve at a single point but not crossing it at that point.
Of a topic, only loosely related to a main topic.
Straight; not horizontally curved.
The collision occurred on a two-mile stretch of tangent track.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- Proto-Italic *tangō Latin tangō Latin tangēns Latin tangentembor. English tangent Borrowed from Latin tangentem, the accusative of tangēns (“touching”) (in the phrase līnea tangēns (“a touching line”)), the present participle of the verb tangō (“touch”, verb), from Proto-Italic *tangō, from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to touch”). Cognate with Old English þaccian (“to touch lightly, pat, stroke”). More at thack, thwack.
Synonym of fly off at a tangent (“to digress from a topic”).
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- Proto-Italic *tangō Latin tangō Latin tangēns Latin tangentembor. English tangent Borrowed from Latin tangentem, the accusative of tangēns (“touching”) (in the phrase līnea tangēns (“a touching line”)), the present participle of the verb tangō (“touch”, verb), from Proto-Italic *tangō, from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to touch”). Cognate with Old English þaccian (“to touch lightly, pat, stroke”). More at thack, thwack.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.