Where does “tangent” come from?
tangent (Danish) comes from Latin tangens, from Latin tangō, from Proto-Italic *tangō, from Proto-Indo-European denḱ- — to bite.
tangent (Danish): tangent; piano key
Ancestry of “tangent”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | tangens | touching, grasping; reaching, arriving at;... |
| 2 | Latin | tangō | — |
| 3 | Proto-Italic | *tangō | — |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | denḱ- | to bite |