English
tangent
Tangent comes from Latin tangēns ‘touching’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂g-1‘to touch’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tangō1‘to touch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangō1‘to touch, grasp’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangēns1‘touching’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangentem1accusative of tangēns
- Englishearliest quotation 1928tangent1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English tangent
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne: ““Uncle Barnaby was always father and mother to me,”…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*teh₂g-Wiktionary, English tangent‘to touch’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tangōWiktionary, English tangent‘to touch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangōWiktionary, English tangent‘to touch, grasp’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangēnsWiktionary, English tangent‘touching’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtangentemWiktionary, English tangentaccusative of tangēns
- Englishearliest quotation 1928tangentWiktionary, English tangent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “tangent”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- / tangent