The Collaborative International Dictionary
Subtend \Sub*tend"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Subtended; p. pr. & vb. n. Subtending.] [L. subtendere; sub under + tendere to stretch, extend. See Tend.] To extend under, or be opposed to; as, the line of a triangle which subtends the right angle; the chord subtends an arc.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
vb. 1 (context transitive English) To extend or stretch underneath or opposite something 2 (context mathematics English) To enclose an arc on a circle with an angle
WordNet
v. be opposite to; of angles and sides, in geometry [syn: delimit]
Usage examples of "subtend".
Above all, let us strive to disengage ourselves from homogeneous space, this substratum of fixity, this arbitrary scheme of measurement and division, which, to our greater advantage, subtends the natural, qualitative, and undivided extension of images.
Quickly I pencilled in the bearings of the two extreme peaks of the Old Men from the break, and then used the protractor to measure the angle they subtended.
I had also hoped to find a virgin region lying beyond El-Harrah, the volcanic tract subtending the east of the Hisma, or plateau of New Red Sandstone.
Mars and Tellus are subtending an angle of something more then ninety degrees at the sun, and Venus is between the two, while Jupiter is clear across the sun from all three of them.
The upper one, as seen from an inverting telescope, appeared double-headed, like one near the Dolphin, but much more decided than that, the space between the two heads being very plainly discernible and subtending a decided angle.
That angle alpha would be identical to the angle-call it beta-at the center of the Earth subtending the 160-stadia chord of the light shaft.
Ahead, where the front of the star-plough is clearing the way, the chaos is nearer at hand, and consequently there the rift subtends a broader angle, and is filled with primordial dust, which, having been annexed by the vanguard of the star-swarm, forms the nebulæ seen only in that part of the Milky Way.
Dalgleish was talking to his first mate and to Mr Humphreys, who was now measuring the angle subtended by the pursuers with the utmost concentration.
Out at Neptune, the Sun subtends only one minute of arc in the sky, and the intensity of sunlight is one nine-hundredth of what we experience here.
Again, this works to our advantage because not only are signals subtended by the magnetic field, but the area’s ion-saturated because the neutron star’s stealing matter from the brown star.
But, Captain, the closer the probe gets, the more its signal will be subtended and distorted by gravity.
The result would be an apparent attraction, diminishing with distance as the subtended shadow angle grew smaller.