Lexic.us

Definition of Secant

1. Noun. A straight line that intersects a curve at two or more points.

2. Noun. Ratio of the hypotenuse to the adjacent side of a right-angled triangle.

Definition of Secant

1. a. Cutting; dividing into two parts; as, a secant line.

2. n. A line that cuts another; especially, a straight line cutting a curve in two or more points.

Definition of Secant

1. Noun. (geometry) A straight line that intersects a curve at two or more points. ¹

2. Noun. (trigonometry) In a right triangle, the reciprocal of the cosine of an angle. Symbol: sec ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Secant

1. a trigonometric function of an angle [n -S]

Medical Definition of Secant

1. 1. A line that cuts another; especially, a straight line cutting a curve in two or more points. 2. A right line drawn from the center of a circle through one end of a circular arc, and terminated by a tangent drawn from the other end; the number expressing the ratio line of this line to the radius of the circle. See Trigonometrical function, under Function. Origin: Cf. F. Secante. See Secant. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Secant

seborrhoea furfuracea seborrhoea nigra seborrhoea sicca seborrhoeal seborrhoeic sebum sebums sebundies sebundy sec'y

sec 65 secale secalose secaloses secant (current term) secantly secants secateur secateurs secci disk

secco seccos secede seceded seceder seceders secedes seceding seceed

Literary usage of Secant

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Principles and Practice of Surveying by Charles Blaney Breed, George Leonard Hosmer (1908)
"Two methods of doing this, known as the secant Method and the Tangent Method, ... The o and 6 mile points of a parallel will be north of the secant, ..."

2. Manual of Instructions for the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States by United States Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Land Management, United States General Land Office, United States (1902)
"East, on the secant, through sec. 34. To right bank of Black River, ... from the secant, To find the distance across the river, I set a flag on the secant ..."

3. Manual of Instructions for the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States by United States Bureau of Land Management (1919)
"secant METHOD. 128. The designated secant is a great circle which cuts any true ... From the point of beginning to the third mile corner the secant has a ..."

4. Mechanics' and Engineers' Pocket-book of Tables, Rules, and Formulas by Charles Haynes Haswell (1920)
"What is secant for 1.1607? The next less secant is 1.1606, arc for which — 30° 30'. ... Difference between less tab. secant and one given is i. ..."

5. Mechanics' and Engineers' Pocketbook of Tables: Rules, and Formulas by Charles Haynes Haswell (1890)
"r If Degrees are taken at head of column, Minutes, secant, and Co-secant must be ... Divide i by Cosine of angle for secant, and by Sine for Co-secant ..."

6. Plane and Spherical Trigonometry: And Four-place Tables of Logarithms by William Anthony Granville (1909)
"General value for all angles having the same cosine or the same secant. ... Since cosine and secant are reciprocal functions, it follows that the same ..."

7. Elements of the Integral Calculus: With a Key to the Solution of by William Elwood Byerly, Benjamin Osgood Peirce (1895)
"The tangent to a curve, at any given point, is the line with which the secant through the given point and any second point of the curve, tends to coincide ..."

8. Bowditch's Useful Tablesby Nathaniel Bowditch, Jonathan Ingersoll Bowditch by Nathaniel Bowditch, Jonathan Ingersoll Bowditch (1844)
"Required the log. secant of 126° 20'. Find 28° at the top of the page, directly below which, in the left-hand column, find 37' ; against which, ..."

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