a. [f. TANGENT sb. + -AL.] Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a tangent; = next, 1. Hence Tangentally adv.
1849. H. Miller, Footpr. Creat., x. 109. Nor are the openings of the medullary rays frequent in the tangental section.
1856. Dove, Logic Chr. Faith, I. ii. II. § 1. 91. These motions … are the result of two somethings, one of which is tangental, the other centripetal.
1867. J. Hogg, Microsc., I. iii. 207. They are sometimes called the horizontal, vertical and tangental.
1891. Cent. Dict., Tangentally.
