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trigonometric function

American  

noun

Mathematics.
  1. Also called circular function.  a function of an angle, as sine or cosine, expressed as the ratio of the sides of a right triangle.

  2. any function involving only trigonometric functions and constants.

  3. the generalization of these to functions of real or complex numbers.


trigonometric function British  

noun

  1. Also called: circular function.  any of a group of functions of an angle expressed as a ratio of two of the sides of a right-angled triangle containing the angle. The group includes sine, cosine, tangent, secant, cosecant, and cotangent

  2. any function containing only sines, cosines, etc, and constants

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

trigonometric function Scientific  
/ trĭg′ə-nə-mĕtrĭk /
  1. A function of an angle, as the sine, cosine, or tangent, whose value is expressed as a ratio of two of the sides of the right triangle that contains the angle.


Etymology

Origin of trigonometric function

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

For the following exercises, find the exact value of each trigonometric function.

From Textbooks Dec. 1, 2021

The even-odd identities relate the value of a trigonometric function at a given angle to the value of the function at the opposite angle and determine whether the identity is odd or even.

From Textbooks Dec. 1, 2021

Example 1.48 is a definite integral of a trigonometric function.

From Textbooks Mar. 30, 2016

Select the trigonometric function representing the ratio of the unknown side to the known side.

From Textbooks Feb. 13, 2015

“That last trigonometric function wasn’t as easy as it looked.”

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali

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