The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
TANGENT
Definition of TANGENT
noun
A straight line touching a curve at a single point without crossing it there.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Latin tangentem, the accusative of tangēns (“touching”) (in the phrase līnea tangēns (“a touching line”)), the present participle of the verb tangō (“touch”, verb), from Proto-Italic *tangō, from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to touch”). Cognate with Old English þaccian (“to touch lightly, pat, stroke”). More at thack, thwack.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Proto-Indo-European
- Latin
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.2%
of traced words share this origin (12,180)
How it is built
Same root, TANGENT · 2 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Old English.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
TANGENT in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 1 board so far.
It first turned up on Day 154, 21 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 20 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 154, 21 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
TANGENT starts with T and ends with T. Sorted, its letters read AEGNNTT - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. T and N appear more than once.
Words that start TANGEN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found TANGENT?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 154 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER