tangente

Forms

tangente m or f by sense (plural tangenti)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word: it is borrowed from Latin tangēns (“touching”), the present participle of tangō (“to touch”), with līnea (“line”) understood.^[2][3][4][5] DEI calls it scientific Latin, and records French tangente from 1629 and English tangent from 1594.^[6] Wiktionary describes the word as inherited from the accusative form, but borrowed in the mathematical senses.^[1]

The sense “share” comes from the Latin verb in the sense “to fall to, to concern”, as in Italian tangere.^[7][5][8] Nocentini and Treccani give this sense its own numbered headword, apart from the geometrical one.^[7][8]

The Latin verb is a nasal present from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to touch”), which de Vaan reconstructs with Germanic and Tocharian cognates.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Galileo (before 1642), for the straight line touching a curve: in the Dialogo a ball fired eastward moves per la tangente.^[10][4][8]

Semantic evolution

Mathematicians of the 17th and 18th centuries used the word for the tangent line and in trigonometry: Torricelli speaks of the problem of the cycloid's tangents, and Guido Grandi defines the tangent to a circle.^[4] The adjective “touching” is recorded from 1805, the geometrical adjective from 1891.^[10]

The sense “share of a common gain or expense” appears in Cesare Beccaria in 1768 and in a translation of 1777;^[10][11] Carlo Porta in 1799 complained that he had counted on his tangente of twelve sequins and been cheated.^[10][11] The purists rejected it: Lissoni in 1831 called it “stale stuff to be avoided”.^[10] In the 20th century this sense narrowed to money extorted by criminals for protection and to bribes paid to officials for contracts and licences.^[12][5][8] Journalism coined tangentismo, tangentista and tangentizio for the practice.^[8] English has the plural tangenti for such bribes from the 20th century, and Austrian German uses Tangente for the state's share of a theatre's takings.^[11]

From the geometrical sense, filare per la tangente (1918, Panzini) means to slip away, and partire per la tangente to go off at a tangent or to lose one's temper.^[10][8][2]

Timeline

• Before 1642 – Galileo uses tangente for the tangent line.^[10][2]
• 1768 – Cesare Beccaria speaks of la tangente dell’utile comune.^[10]
• 1777 – a translation from English uses tangente for a share of taxes.^[10][11]
• 1799 – Carlo Porta uses the word for his share of a sum.^[10]
• 1805 – D'Alberti records the adjective “touching” and tangenza.^[10][6]
• 1831 – Lissoni condemns the sense “share”.^[10]
• 1918 – Panzini records filare per la tangente.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (geometry) Of a line, curve, plane or surface: having a single point in common with another figure: un piano tangente alla sfera.^[12][5][3]
2. (obsolete) touching; falling to someone as their share.^[2][13][14]

Noun

1. (geometry) A tangent, a straight line touching a curve at one point.^[12][5][3]
2. (trigonometry) The tangent of an angle, the ratio of its sine to its cosine.^[12][5][3]
3. A bribe or kickback paid to obtain a contract, licence or favour; also protection money extorted by criminals, the pizzo.^[12][5][3]
4. (uncommon) A person's share of a common gain or expense.^[12][5][3]
5. (music) The small metal blade at the inner end of a clavichord key.^[12][15]

Word family

• tangenza
• tangenziale
• tangentismo
• tangentista
• tangentizio
• tangentocrazia
• Tangentopoli
• sottotangente

Related words

• tangere
• cotangente
• Latin tango

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 709
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3711
7. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana