COSINE Definition & Meaning

cosine

[ koh-sahyn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

Trigonometry.
1. (in a right triangle) the ratio of the side adjacent to a given angle to the hypotenuse.
2. the sine of the complement of a given angle or arc. : cos
Mathematics. (of a real or complex number x ) the function cos x defined by the infinite series 1 − ( x 2 /2!) + ( x 4 /4!) − + …, where ! denotes factorial. : cos Compare sine ( def 3 ), factorial ( def 1 ).

cosine

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a trigonometric function that in a right-angled triangle is the ratio of the length of the adjacent side to that of the hypotenuse; the sine of the complement cos

cosine

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The ratio of the length of the side adjacent to an acute angle of a right triangle to the length of the hypotenuse.
The abscissa 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.
A function of a number x , equal to the cosine of an angle whose measure in radians is equal to x.

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Origin of cosine¹

1625–35; < New Latin cosinus. See co-, sine ( def )

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Origin of cosine¹

C17: from New Latin cosinus; see co- , sine ¹

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These functions, such as the sine and cosine, are defined using right triangles.

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The mnemonic SO-CAH-TOA is commonly used to teach trigonometric functions sine, cosine and tangent.

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He proposed that all periodic functions — all periodic phenomena — could be understood as sums of sine and cosine waves.

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And not once in the 40 years since I finished school have I ever been asked to factor a polynomial or calculate the cosine of anything.

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