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versine

n. (context trigonometry English) The versed sine.

Wikipedia
Versine

The versine or versed sine is a trigonometric function already appearing in some of the earliest trigonometric tables. The versine of an angle equals 1 minus its cosine.

There are several related functions, most notably the coversine and haversine. The latter, half a versine, is of particular importance in the haversine formula of navigation.

Usage examples of "versine".

So I treated H-above-G, ten klicks, as a versine, applied the haversine rule and got four degrees thirty-seven minutes or two hundred seventy-seven kilometers to the theoretical horizon.