| 释义 |
Definition of secant in English: secantnoun ˈsɛk(ə)ntˈsiːk(ə)nt 1Mathematics
The ratio of the hypotenuse to the shorter side adjacent to an acute angle (in a right-angled triangle); the reciprocal of a cosine. Example sentencesExamples - He gave a table of secants and, although Delambre credited him with the first use of this function, it had appeared earlier in the work of Copernicus.
- When you move the cursor over a button on the calculator, a description of its function appears - sine of a number, cosine, secant, etc.
- The secant and cosecant were not used by the early astronomers or surveyors.
- It also gave tables of natural sine functions to 15 decimal places, and the tan and sec functions to 10 decimal places.
- The secant of this angle is 1.61806 which is remarkably close to the golden ratio 1.618034.
2Geometry
A straight line that cuts a curve in two or more parts. Example sentencesExamples - In this projection the meridians are vertical and parallels having increased spacing in proportion to the secant of the latitude.
- Note that the air mass is approximately equal to the secant of the zenith angle (that angle from directly overhead to a line intersecting the sun).
- Direct irradiance was attenuated as described by Beer's law, with the optical path length increasing approximately as the secant of the solar zenith angle.
Origin Late 16th century; from French sécante, based on Latin secare 'to cut'. Definition of secant in US English: secantnoun 1Mathematics
The ratio of the hypotenuse to the shorter side adjacent to an acute angle (in a right-angled triangle); the reciprocal of a cosine. Example sentencesExamples - It also gave tables of natural sine functions to 15 decimal places, and the tan and sec functions to 10 decimal places.
- The secant and cosecant were not used by the early astronomers or surveyors.
- When you move the cursor over a button on the calculator, a description of its function appears - sine of a number, cosine, secant, etc.
- He gave a table of secants and, although Delambre credited him with the first use of this function, it had appeared earlier in the work of Copernicus.
- The secant of this angle is 1.61806 which is remarkably close to the golden ratio 1.618034.
2Geometry
A straight line that cuts a curve in two or more parts. Example sentencesExamples - In this projection the meridians are vertical and parallels having increased spacing in proportion to the secant of the latitude.
- Direct irradiance was attenuated as described by Beer's law, with the optical path length increasing approximately as the secant of the solar zenith angle.
- Note that the air mass is approximately equal to the secant of the zenith angle (that angle from directly overhead to a line intersecting the sun).
Origin Late 16th century; from French sécante, based on Latin secare ‘to cut’. |