English
tangent
Tangent comes from Latin tangēns ‘touching’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂g-‘to touch’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tangō‘to touch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangō‘to touch, grasp’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangēns‘touching’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangentemaccusative of tangēns
- Englishearliest quotation 1928tangent
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂g-‘to touch’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tangō‘to touch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangō‘to touch, grasp’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangēns‘touching’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangentemaccusative of tangēns
- Englishearliest quotation 1928tangent
Earliest quotation: 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne: “Uncle Barnaby was always father and mother to me,”…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- ‘to touch’
taste, integrity, integrate, attain, taxis, taxonomy, talon, contagion, tama, contaminate, ataxia, tactician, talus, thwack, 28 more
through Proto-Italic *tangō ‘to touch’
through Latin tangō ‘to touch, grasp’
contact, tame, tangible, contiguous, contingent, tactile, tact, 9 more
Today it means
noun A straight line touching a curve at a single point without crossing it there.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- / tangent