The meaning of TANGENT is an abrupt change of course : digression. How to use tangent in a sentence.

Idiom go off on a tangent (Definition of tangent from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

Tangent, written as tan⁡ (θ), is one of the six fundamental trigonometric functions. Tangent, like other trigonometric functions, is typically defined in terms of right triangles and in terms of the …

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 …

(informal) to suddenly start saying or doing something that does not seem to be connected to what has gone before He never sticks to the point but keeps going off at a tangent. Laura’s …

In geometry, the tangent line (or simply tangent) to a plane curve at a given point is, intuitively, the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point.

TANGENT meaning: 1 : a line that touches a sphere or circle at only one point; 2 : to start talking about something that is only slightly or indirectly related to the original subject

the length of a straight line tangent to a curve, measured from the point of tangency to the intersection of the tangent line with the x-axis

In trigonometry, the tangent function is used to find the slope of a line between the origin and a point representing the intersection between the hypotenuse and the altitude of a right triangle. …

Mathematics touching at a single point, as a tangent in relation to a curve or surface. Mathematics in contact along a single line or element, as a plane with a cylinder.