Definition of "sine" [sine•‖Si•ne]

• The ordinate of the endpoint of an arc of a unit circle centered at the origin of a Cartesian coordinate system, the arc being of length x and measured counterclockwise from the point (1, 0) if x is positive or clockwise if x is negative. (noun)
• In a right triangle, the ratio of the length of the side opposite an acute angle to the length of the hypotenuse. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Defense counsel Paul Reichler summarized at length why the defense filed a motion to compel the government to comply with what he described as sine qua non - an essential condition - to the pre-trial agreement."
• "And that's a beautifully symmetrical, simple wave that we call a sine wave."
• "They may also leave open the possibility of leaving the session to the 18th open all the way to that point before they call sine die, which would be final adjournment, just to make sure that no issues crop up."