tangential

Of, relating to, or moving along or in the direction of a tangent.

Merely touching or slightly connected.

Only superficially relevant; divergent.

In geology, specifically applied to strains in the earth’s crust which are applied in a direction tangential to its surface.

Of or pertaining to a tangent; being or moving in the direction of a tangent.

Figuratively, slightly connected; touch-and-go.

In the geom. of plane cubic curves, the point at which the tangent from any point cuts the curve again. The point of intersection is called the tangential or the point of tangency.

Of or pertaining to a tangent; in the direction of a tangent.

a force which acts on a moving body in the direction of a tangent to the path of the body, its effect being to increase or diminish the velocity; — distinguished from a normal force, which acts at right angles to the tangent and changes the direction of the motion without changing the velocity.

See Shear, n., 3.