Adjacent Words

Incidence definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IN'CIDENCE, n. [L. incidens; incido, to fall on; in and cado, to fall.]
1. Literally, a falling on; whence, an accident or casualty.
2. The manner of falling on, or the direction in which one body falls on or strikes another. The angle which the line of falling, or the direction of a moving body striking another, makes with the place struck, is called the angle of incidence. When rays of light striking a body are reflected,the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection are equal.
In equal incidences there is a considerable inequality of refractions.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the relative frequency of occurrence of something [syn: incidence, relative incidence]
2: the striking of a light beam on a surface; "he measured the angle of incidence of the reflected light"

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1626 1. a. angle of incidence b. the arrival of something (as a projectile or a ray of light) at a surface 2. a. an act or the fact or manner of falling upon or affecting ; occurrence b. rate of occurrence or influence <a high incidence of crime>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 (often foll. by of) the fact, manner, or rate, of occurrence or action. 2 the range, scope, or extent of influence of a thing. 3 Physics the falling of a line, or of a thing moving in a line, upon a surface. 4 the act or an instance of coming into contact with a thing. Phrases and idioms: angle of incidence the angle which an incident line, ray, etc., makes with the perpendicular to the surface at the point of incidence. Etymology: ME f. OF incidence or med.L incidentia (as INCIDENT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Angle An"gle ([a^][ng]"g'l), n. [F. angle, L. angulus angle, corner; akin to uncus hook, Gr. 'agky`los bent, crooked, angular, 'a`gkos a bend or hollow, AS. angel hook, fish-hook, G. angel, and F. anchor.] 1. The inclosed space near the point where two lines meet; a corner; a nook. Into the utmost angle of the world. --Spenser. To search the tenderest angles of the heart. --Milton. 2. (Geom.) (a) The figure made by. two lines which meet. (b) The difference of direction of two lines. In the lines meet, the point of meeting is the vertex of the angle. 3. A projecting or sharp corner; an angular fragment. Though but an angle reached him of the stone. --Dryden. 4. (Astrol.) A name given to four of the twelve astrological ``houses.'' [Obs.] --Chaucer. 5. [AS. angel.] A fishhook; tackle for catching fish, consisting of a line, hook, and bait, with or without a rod. Give me mine angle: we 'll to the river there. --Shak. A fisher next his trembling angle bears. --Pope. Acute angle, one less than a right angle, or less than 90[deg]. Adjacent or Contiguous angles, such as have one leg common to both angles. Alternate angles. See Alternate. Angle bar. (a) (Carp.) An upright bar at the angle where two faces of a polygonal or bay window meet. --Knight. (b) (Mach.) Same as Angle iron. Angle bead (Arch.), a bead worked on or fixed to the angle of any architectural work, esp. for protecting an angle of a wall. Angle brace, Angle tie (Carp.), a brace across an interior angle of a wooden frame, forming the hypothenuse and securing the two side pieces together. --Knight. Angle iron (Mach.), a rolled bar or plate of iron having one or more angles, used for forming the corners, or connecting or sustaining the sides of an iron structure to which it is riveted. Angle leaf (Arch.), a detail in the form of a leaf, more or less conventionalized, used to decorate and sometimes to strengthen an angle. Angle meter, an instrument for measuring angles, esp. for ascertaining the dip of strata. Angle shaft (Arch.), an enriched angle bead, often having a capital or base, or both. Curvilineal angle, one formed by two curved lines. External angles, angles formed by the sides of any right-lined figure, when the sides are produced or lengthened. Facial angle. See under Facial. Internal angles, those which are within any right-lined figure. Mixtilineal angle, one formed by a right line with a curved line. Oblique angle, one acute or obtuse, in opposition to a right angle. Obtuse angle, one greater than a right angle, or more than 90[deg]. Optic angle. See under Optic. Rectilineal or Right-lined angle, one formed by two right lines. Right angle, one formed by a right line falling on another perpendicularly, or an angle of 90[deg] (measured by a quarter circle). Solid angle, the figure formed by the meeting of three or more plane angles at one point. Spherical angle, one made by the meeting of two arcs of great circles, which mutually cut one another on the surface of a globe or sphere. Visual angle, the angle formed by two rays of light, or two straight lines drawn from the extreme points of an object to the center of the eye. For Angles of commutation, draught, incidence, reflection, refraction, position, repose, fraction, see Commutation, Draught, Incidence, Reflection, Refraction, etc.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Incidence In"ci*dence, n. [Cf. F. incidence.] 1. A falling on or upon; an incident; an event. [Obs.] --Bp. Hall. 2. (Physics) The direction in which a body, or a ray of light or heat, falls on any surface. In equal incidences there is a considerable inequality of refractions. --Sir I. Newton. Angle of incidence, the angle which a ray of light, or the line of incidence of a body, falling on any surface, makes with a perpendicular to that surface; also formerly, the complement of this angle. Line of incidence, the line in the direction of which a surface is struck by a body, ray of light, and the like.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(incidences) The incidence of something bad, such as a disease, is the frequency with which it occurs, or the occasions when it occurs. The incidence of breast cancer increases with age. N-VAR

Moby Thesaurus

accident, amount, coming to be, common occurrence, commonness, contingency, contingent, degree, event, eventuality, eventuation, extent, frequence, frequency, habitualness, materialization, number, occurrence, oftenness, prevalence, quantity, rate, realization, relative incidence, routineness, usualness