Look up tangent in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A tangent, in geometry, is a straight line through a point on a curve that has the same direction at that point as the curve.

Tangent may also refer to:

Mathematics

• Analogous concepts for surfaces and higher-dimensional smooth manifolds, such as the tangent space
  • More generally, in geometry, two curves are said to be tangent when they intersect at a given point and have the same direction at that point; see for instance tangent circles
  • Bitangent, a line that is tangent to two different curves, or tangent twice to the same curve
• The tangent function, one of the six basic trigonometric functions

Music

• Tangent (clavichord), a part of the action of the clavichord that both initiates and sustains a tone, and helps determine pitch
• Tangent (tangent piano), a part of the action of the tangent piano that only initiates the sound by striking the string(s) and rebounding immediately in the manner of a piano
• The Tangent, an international progressive rock supergroup
• Tangents: The Tea Party Collection, a compilation album from The Tea Party released in 2000.
• Tangents: 1973–1983, a compilation box set from Tangerine Dream released in 1994.
• Tangents (band), an Australian musical group

Entertainment

• Tangent Comics, a short-lived imprint of DC Comics
• "The Tangent Universe", the alternate universe in time travel in the cult film Donnie Darko
• Tangent (Stargate SG-1), an episode of the television series Stargate SG-1
• Tangents (film) or Time Chasers, a 1994 science fiction film
• Tangents (collection), a collection of science fiction stories by Greg Bear

Geography

• Tangent, Alberta, a hamlet in Alberta, Canada
• Tangent, Oregon, a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States
• The Tangent Line, part of the Mason-Dixon line between Delaware and Maryland, United States
• Tangente River, a tributary of the Wawagosic River, in Quebec, Canada

Other uses

• Tangent (club), an international social networking group for women over 45, part of the Round Table family
• Track transition curve, a straight section of road or track in highway and railroad design