Webster's English Dictionary

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secant

se.cant \'se--.kant, -k*nt\ n [NL secant-, secans, fr. L, prp. of secare to 
   cut - more at] SAW 1: a straight line cutting a curve at two or more points 
    2a: a right line drawn from the center of a circle through one end of a 
   cir cular arc to a tangent drawn from the other end of the arc 2b: the 
   trigonometric function that for an acute angle in a right triangle  is the 
   ratio of the hypotenuse to the side adjacent to the angle