secant

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

2 ratio of the hypotenuse to the adjacent side of a right-angled triangle [syn: sec]

English

Noun

1. A straight line that intersects a curve at two or more points.
2. In a right triangle, the reciprocal of the cosine of an angle. Symbol: sec

Related terms

• cosecant

Translations

Secant is a term in mathematics. It comes from the Latin secare (to cut). It can refer to:

• a secant line, in geometry
• the trigonometric function called secant
• the secant method, a root-finding algorithm in numerical analysis

air line, axis, beeline, chiasmal, chiasmic, chiastic, chord, crisscross, cross, crosscut, crossed, crossing, cut across, decussate, decussated, diagonal, diameter, direct line, directrix, edge, great-circle course, intersected, intersecting, normal, perpendicular, radius, radius vector, right line, segment, shortcut, side, straight, straight course, straight line, straight stretch, straightaway, streamline, tangent, transversal, vector