Happy Friday! The word of the day is
- Tangent -
pronounced [tan-juh'nt]
pronounced [tan-juh'nt]
adjective
2. Geometry .
3. tangential ( def. 3 ) .
1. meeting, abutting.
Can be confused with
circumference, diameter, radius
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tangent
1. in immediate physical contact; touching.
2. Geometry .
a. touching at a single point, as a tangent in relation to a curve or surface.
3. tangential ( def. 3 ) .
noun
5. Trigonometry .
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
Synonyms 4. 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 
/ at a tangent, digressing suddenly from one course of action or thought and turning to another: The speaker flew off on a tangent.
Origin
/ at a tangent, digressing suddenly from one course of action or thought and turning to another: The speaker flew off on a tangent.Origin
1590s, "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 Rotudi" (1583). The noun also is attested from 1590s; extended sense of "slightly connected with a subject" is first recorded 1825.
1. meeting, abutting.
Can be confused with
circumference, diameter, radius
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tangent
