Word.ws English Dictionary

subtendent

subtendent noun: the side that subtends (is opposite) a specified angle;.

Noun

subtendent (plural subtendents)

  1. The side that subtends (is opposite) a specified angle;
    • Lastly, if you put BC the lesser of the sides, including the right angle for Radius, the greater side, AC, including the right angle is the tangent of ABC, the greater acute angle opposite; and the subtendent A B, is the secant of the same acute angle.1642, Bartholomäus Pitiscus, Trigonometry: Or, The Doctrine of Triangles., page 91
    • The very Subtendent line is found of an odde part; but the very subtendent of an even part is not found at one operation, but onely the Square of the Subtendent; and the greater the number of parts be, so much harder it willbe to finde out the subtendent.1657, Johannes Jonstonus, An History of the Constancy of Nature

Adjective (1)

subtendent (comparative more subtendent, superlative most subtendent)

  1. That subtends; that lies opposite to a specified angle or point.
    • Captain Herschel expresses doubts of this, but it is evident that as the cusps closed both must have been within the space subtendent by half the length of the slit.1875, Lieutenant-Colonel J.F. Tennant, “Report on Observations of the Total Elipse of the Sun”, in Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, volume 42, page 9
    • Make subtendent lines to them, and cut away the arches; then erect plain Looking-glasses, that may be of the same latitude, and of the same parallel lines, and the same longitude; glew them fast together, and fit them lo, that they may not be pulled asunder, as they are joyned long-ways, and...1957, Giambattista della Porta, Natural Magick, page 359

Adjective (2)

subtendent (comparative more subtendent, superlative most subtendent)

  1. That arises from; consequent.
    • Secularism, with its subtendent isms, may now be considered to have approached the critical or turning' point in its career.1882, James McCann, The Champion of the faith against current infidelity, page 191
    • Yet it must not be supposed that while this painter sturdily refuses to prettify or to humanize, to adopt or to invent a school, there is any hardness or lack of subtendent poetry in his art.1893, Donahoe's Magazine - Volume 29, page 138

Forms of subtendent

Noun
pluralsubtendents
Adjective
comparativemore subtendent
superlativemost subtendent

Origin of subtendent

From subtend + -ent.

From sub- + tend + -ent.

Questions about subtendent

What does subtendent mean?
Subtendent means the side that subtends (is opposite) a specified angle;.
What part of speech is subtendent?
Subtendent can be a noun or an adjective.
What is the plural of subtendent?
The plural of subtendent is subtendents.

Words near subtendent in the dictionary

  1. subtenanted
  2. subtenanting
  3. subtenants
  4. subtend
  5. subtended
  6. subtendent
  7. subtendents
  8. subtender
  9. subtenders
  10. subtendeth
  11. subtending

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: subtendent (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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