circular function

circular function

n. See trigonometric function.

circular function

n (Mathematics) another name for trigonometric function¹

trig′onomet′ric func′tion

n. a function of an angle, as the sine or cosine, expressed as the ratio of the sides of a right triangle. Also called circular function. [1905–10]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

circular function - function of an angle expressed as a ratio of the length of the sides of right-angled triangle containing the angletrigonometric functionfunction, mapping, mathematical function, single-valued function, map - (mathematics) a mathematical relation such that each element of a given set (the domain of the function) is associated with an element of another set (the range of the function)sine, sin - ratio of the length of the side opposite the given angle to the length of the hypotenuse of a right-angled trianglearc sine, arcsin, arcsine, inverse sine - the inverse function of the sine; the angle that has a sine equal to a given numbercos, cosine - ratio of the adjacent side to the hypotenuse of a right-angled trianglearc cosine, arccos, arccosine, inverse cosine - the inverse function of the cosine; the angle that has a cosine equal to a given numbertangent, tan - ratio of the opposite to the adjacent side of a right-angled trianglearc tangent, arctan, arctangent, inverse tangent - the inverse function of the tangent; the angle that has a tangent equal to a given numbercotan, cotangent - ratio of the adjacent to the opposite side of a right-angled trianglearc cotangent, arccotangent, inverse cotangent - the inverse function of the cotangent; the angle that has a cotangent equal to a given numbersec, secant - ratio of the hypotenuse to the adjacent side of a right-angled trianglearc secant, arcsec, arcsecant, inverse secant - the inverse function of the secant; the angle that has a secant equal to a given numbercosec, cosecant - ratio of the hypotenuse to the opposite side of a right-angled trianglearc cosecant, arccosecant, inverse cosecant - the angle that has a cosecant equal to a given number