Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “secant” come from?

Secant comes from Latin secans, the present participle of secare, from seco, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European sek-, meaning to cut.

secant (English): A straight line that intersects a curve at two or...

Definitions

  1. A straight line that intersects a curve at two or...

Ancestry of “secant”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinsecanscutting; cleaving, dividing; operating,...
2Latinsecō—
3Proto-Indo-Europeansek-to cut, cut off, sever

Words derived from “secant”

  • arcsec
  • cosecant
  • milliarcsec
  • secancy
  • microarcsec
  • arcsecant
  • arccosecant
  • quadrisecant
  • bisecant
  • セカント
  • コセカント
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sek- →