cosecant

American  

[koh-see-kuhnt, -kant] / koʊˈsi kənt, -kænt /

noun

Trigonometry.

1. (in a right triangle) the ratio of the hypotenuse to the side opposite a given angle.

2. the secant of the complement, or the reciprocal of the sine, of a given angle or arc. csc

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cosecant British  

/ kəʊˈsiːkənt /

noun

1.  cosec.  (of an angle) a trigonometric function that in a right-angled triangle is the ratio of the length of the hypotenuse to that of the opposite side; the reciprocal of sine

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cosecant Scientific  

/ kō-sē′kănt′ /

1. The ratio of the length of the hypotenuse in a right triangle to the length of the side opposite an acute angle. The cosecant is the inverse of the sine.

2. The reciprocal of the ordinate of the endpoint of an arc of a unit circle centered at the origin of a Cartesian coordinate system, the arc being of length x and measured counterclockwise from the point (1, 0) if x is positive or clockwise if x is negative.

3. A function of a number x, equal to the cosecant of an angle whose measure in radians is equal to x.

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Etymology

Origin of cosecant

First recorded in 1700–10, cosecant is from the New Latin word cosecant- (stem of cosecāns ). See co-, secant

Example Sentences

Then, we can find the other trigonometric functions easily because we know that the reciprocal of sine is cosecant, the reciprocal of cosine is secant, and the reciprocal of tangent is cotangent.

From Textbooks • Dec. 1, 2021

Since the sine is never more than 1 in absolute value, the cosecant, being the reciprocal, will never be less than 1 in absolute value.

From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015

Cosine and secant are even; sine, tangent, cosecant, and cotangent are odd.

From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015

Where the graph of the sine function increases, the graph of the cosecant function decreases.

From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015

In quadrant II, “Smart,” only sine and its reciprocal function, cosecant, are positive.

From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015