Etymology

tangential

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Today it means: Referring to a tangent, moving at a tangent to something. Full definition →

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← English tangent ← Latin tangentem
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*teh₂g-
  2. Proto-Italic*tangō
  3. Latintangō
  4. Latintangēns
  5. Latintangentem
  6. Englishtangent
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  9. English todaytangential

From tangent + -ial.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.