Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Secant

Se′cant (sē′kănt), a. [L. secans, -antis, p. pr. of secare to cut. See Section.] Cutting; dividing into two parts; as, a secant line.

Secant, n. [Cf. F. sécante. See Secant, a.] 1. (Geom.) A line that cuts another; especially, a straight line cutting a curve in two or more points.

2. (Trig.) A right line drawn from the center of a circle through one end of a circular arc, and terminated by a tangent drawn from the other end; the number expressing the ratio of this line to the radius of the circle. See Trigonometrical function, under Function.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.