1. of superficial relevance if any;

   "a digressive allusion to the day of the week"
   "a tangential remark"
   

2. of or relating to or acting along or in the direction of a tangent;

   "tangential forces"
   

1.关系不大的;不直接相干的
If you describe something astangential, you mean that it has only a slight or indirect connection with the thing you are concerned with, and is therefore not worth considering seriously.

tangential

e.g. Too much time was spent discussingtangential issues...
太多的时间花在了讨论那些无关紧要的问题上。
e.g. They thought the whole thing was a side-show,tangential to the real world of business.
他们认为整件事情只是一个插曲，和真正的商界没有多大关系。

2.切线的;相切的
If something istangential to something else, it is at a tangent to it.

e.g. ...point T, where the demand curve istangential to the straight line L.
需求曲线和直线 L 相切之点 T
e.g. ...the streettangential to the courthouse square.
和法院大楼广场相切的那条大街

1. 切线的：另外一个相似之处是:它们都是间接的,沿切线的(tangential)或边际的(peripheral). 例如PK的主效应常无法观测,而次效应却能很准确地观测;又如吵闹精灵的效应是旋涡状而非径向(vortical not radial),

2.

2. 相切 相切：tangent a. 相切(的)n. 切线 切点 |tangential 相切 相切 | Taper Faces 倾斜面 锥形面

3.

3. 相切：Tangent Point 切点 |tangential 相切 |tangential Extensions 切线延伸

4.

4. 切向的,正切的：talking paper 讨论文件 |tangential 切向的,正切的 |tangential viscous force 切向粘性力