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Tangent vs Contingent - What's the difference?

tangent | contingent |

As nouns the difference between tangent and contingent

is that tangent is a straight line touching a curve at a single point without crossing it there while contingent is an event which may or may not happen; that which is unforeseen, undetermined, or dependent on something future; a contingency.

As adjectives the difference between tangent and contingent

is that tangent is touching a curve at a single point but not crossing it at that point while contingent is possible or liable, but not certain to occur; incidental; casual.

tangent

Noun

(en noun)
  • (geometry) A straight line touching a curve at a single point without crossing it there.
  • (trigonometry) In a right triangle, the ratio of the length of the side opposite the angle to the length of the side adjacent to the angle. Symbols: tan, tg
  • A topic nearly unrelated to the main topic, but having a point in common with it.
  • I believe we went off onto a tangent when we started talking about monkeys on unicycles at his retirement party.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1928, author=Lawrence R. Bourne
  • , title=Well Tackled! , chapter=1 citation , passage=“Uncle Barnaby was always father and mother to me,” Benson broke in; then after a pause his mind flew off at a tangent . “Is old Hannah all right—in the will, I mean?”}}
  • * 2009 : Stuart Heritage], [http://www.hecklerspray.com/ Hecklerspray] , Friday the 22nd of May in 2009 at 1 o’clock p.m., “[http://www.hecklerspray.com/jon-kate-latest-people-you-dont-know-do-crap-you-dont-care-about/200934378.php Jon & Kate Latest: People You Don’t Know Do Crap You Don’t Care About
  • Jon & Kate Plus 8'' is a show based on two facts: (1)''' Jon and Kate Gosselin have eight children, and '''(2)''' the word ‘Kate’ rhymes with the word ‘eight’. One suspects that if Kate were ever to have another child, a shady network executive would urge her to put it in a binbag with a brick and drop it down a well. But this is just a horrifying ' tangent .
  • A small metal blade by which a clavichord produces sound.
  • Derived terms

    * arctangent * cotangent * hyberbolic tangent

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (geometry) Touching a curve at a single point but not crossing it at that point.
  • Of a topic, only loosely related to a main topic.
  • See also

    * cosine * non sequitur * sine * trigonometry ----

    contingent

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An event which may or may not happen; that which is unforeseen, undetermined, or dependent on something future; a contingency.
  • That which falls to one in a division or apportionment among a number; a suitable share; proportion;
  • a quota of troops.
  • * 2014 , Ian Black, " Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis", The Guardian , 27 November 2014:
  • Arrests and prosecutions intensified after Isis captured Mosul in June, but the groundwork had been laid by an earlier amendment to Jordan’s anti-terrorism law. It is estimated that 2,000 Jordanians have fought and 250 of them have died in Syria – making them the third largest Arab contingent in Isis after Saudi Arabians and Tunisians.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Possible or liable, but not certain to occur; incidental; casual.
  • (with upon ) Dependent on something that is undetermined or unknown.
  • The success of his undertaking is contingent upon events which he can not control.
  • Dependent on something that may or may not occur.
  • a contingent estate
  • Not logically necessarily true or false.
  • Synonyms

    * (possible but not certain to occur) incidental

    Antonyms

    * (possible but not certain to occur) certain, inevitable, necessary, impossible

    Anagrams

    * ----