Trig Terms 4

[kontiki99]

Has anybody got a good explanation where the trig terms tangent and secant came from. Are they Arabic in origin?

 

[GregLocock]

tangent - Latin, tangere, to touch

secant - Latin secare - to cut

That's what Chambers 20th C says, anyway

Euler pretty much nailed modern trig terminology in 1748. And you don't argue with Euler.

Here's a great diagram, showing why they are named that way

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Circle-trig6.svg

and here's wiki's take on history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_trigonometric_functions

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[0707]

"Tem gente" in Portuguese means "there are people inside" and it sounds like "tangente" from trig.

As an anecdote:

One day a proof questions the pupil. What is a "tangente"?

The pupil answered."Tangente" is when somebody knocks at the W.C. door and the one who is inside answers "there are people inside...

CHEERS

LUIS

 

[JAE]

Scene: Hotel in France.

The tan gent knocked on the door and demanded, "I need to speak with Michelle right now! Send her out!."

Voice from the inside: "Se cant, monsier, Se is not dressed yet!"

 

[kontiki99]

GregLocock

Thanks, I looked in my Oxford English Dictionary, but didn't think of the Wiki.

 

[Skogsgurra]

Greg,

Fantastic! The Wiki is a source of the most amazing facts. I had a faint idea about the history of trigonometry - very faint, compared to what you read in the Wiki articles. Thanks for pointing to it. Did you write it yourself?

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

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100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...

 

[GregLocock]

No, I didn't write /that/ article.



Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.