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trigonometry

UK/ˌtɹɪɡəˈnɒmətɹi/US/ˌtɹɪɡəˈnɒmətɹi/
nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,071 of 15,258neutral

Trigonometry is the maths of angles and triangles. Study trigonometry, a trigonometry problem, use trigonometry.

It exists because a triangle with one known side and two known angles is fully determined, which is how surveyors measured mountains they could not climb and astronomers measured distances they could not travel. Sine, cosine and tangent are the three tools.

Chasetaylor1 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Definitions of trigonometry

  1. 1nountrigonometryThe maths of angles and triangles.B2+

    “With a little trigonometry, you can work out the height of a tree from its shadow.”

trigonometry is a branch of maths.

Where it comes from

Greek trigonon, a triangle, plus metron, a measure, coined in Latin in the seventeenth century.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *tréyes

  2. Ancient Greek

    τρίγωνον — triangle

  3. New Latin

    trigōnometria

  4. English, today

    trigonometry

Built from

  • μέτρον · Ancient Greek — measure

From 1610s, from New Latin trigōnometria, from Ancient Greek τρίγωνον (“triangle”) + μέτρον (“measure”), equivalent to trigono- + metry.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in School Subjects

Practise this word

trigonometry in the wild

  • The origins of spherical trigonometry in Greek mathematics and the major developments in Islamic mathematics are discussed fully in History of trigonometry and Mathematics in medieval Islam.

    Spherical trigonometry

  • The book advocates replacing the usual basic quantities of trigonometry, Euclidean distance and angle measure, by squared distance and the square of the sine of the angle, respectively.

    Divine Proportions: Rational Trigonometry to Universal Geometry

  • Al-Tusi was the first to treat trigonometry as an independent mathematical discipline, separate from astronomy.

    History of trigonometry

  • Throughout history, trigonometry has been applied in areas such as geodesy, surveying, celestial mechanics, and navigation.

    Trigonometry

  • Generally, trigonometry can be the study of triples of points in any kind of geometry or space.

    Generalized trigonometry

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.