tangente

See also: Tangente

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tangēntem, an ellipsis of [līnea] tangēns, "touching line".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɑ̃.ʒɑ̃t/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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Noun

tangente f (plural tangentes)

1. (trigonometry) tangent (trigonometric function)
2. (geometry) tangent

Derived terms

• prendre la tangente

See also

• cosécante
• cosinus
• cotangente
• sécante
• sinus

Further reading

• “tangente”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Italian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin tangentem, borrowed in the mathematical senses.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tanˈd͡ʒɛn.te/
• Rhymes: -ɛnte
• Hyphenation: tan‧gèn‧te

Adjective

tangente m or f by sense (plural tangenti)

1. tangent, tangential

Noun

tangente f (plural tangenti)

1. (geometry, trigonometry) tangent
2. (colloquial) cut, rake-off, kickback, bribe, backhander

   Synonyms: bustarella, mazzetta

3. share, quota

Related terms

• tangentismo
• tangentista
• tangentizio
• tangentocrazia
• tangentoide
• Tangentopoli
• tangenza
• tangenziale

Participle

tangente m or f by sense (plural tangenti)

1. present participle of tangere

Latin

Participle

tangente

1. ablative masculine/feminine/neuter singular of tangēns

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g-

Proto-Italic *tangō

Latin tangō

Latin tangentemlbor.

Portuguese tangente

Learned borrowing from Latin tangentem.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ẽti

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /tɐ̃ˈʒẽ.t͡ʃi/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tɐ̃ˈʒẽ.tɨ/

• Hyphenation: tan‧gen‧te

Adjective

tangente m or f (plural tangentes)

1. tangential (merely touching)
2. (geometry) tangent

Noun

tangente f (plural tangentes)

1. (trigonometry) tangent

Further reading

• “tangente”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “tangente”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Tangente (tangent, shown on left below).

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g-

Proto-Italic *tangō

Latin tangō

Latin tangentembor.

Spanish tangente

Borrowed from Latin tangentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tanˈxente/ [t̪ãŋˈxẽn̪.t̪e]
• Rhymes: -ente
• Syllabification: tan‧gen‧te

Adjective

tangente m or f (masculine and feminine plural tangentes)

1. (geometry) tangent

Noun

tangente f (plural tangentes)

1. (trigonometry) tangent

Derived terms

• irse por la tangente
• salirse por la tangente (“to go off on a tangent”)

Further reading

• “tangente”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025