TRANSEPT n.
The transversal part of a church, which crosses at right angles to the greatest length, and between the nave and choir. In the basilicas, this had often no projection at its two ends. In Gothic churches these project these project greatly, and should be called the arms of the transept. It is common, however, to speak o…
TRIGONOMETRIC; TRIGONOMETRICAL n.
nd spherical trigonometry, as sines, tangents, secants, and the like. These lines, or the lengths of them, are trigonometrical functions of the arcs and angles to which they belong. -- Trigonometrical survey. See under Survey.
TRIMORPHISM n.
Bot.), that condition in which flowers of plants of the same species have three different lengths of stamens, short, medium, and long, the blossoms of one individual plant having short and medium stamens and a long style, those of another having short and long stamens and a style of medium length, and those of a third…
TROMBONE n.
double, slips into the outer parts, as in a telescope, so that by change of the vibrating length any tone within the compass of the instrument (which may be bass or tenor or alto or even, in rare instances, soprano) is commanded. It is the only member of the family of wind instruments whose scale, both diatonic and chr…
TROPICAL a.
ied by the sun in passing from one tropic or one equinox to the same again, having a mean length of 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46.0 seconds, which is 20 minutes, 23.3 seconds shorter than the sidereal year, on account of the precession of the equinoxes.
TRUSS n.
o transmit pressure vertically to those points, with the least possible strain across the length of any member. Architectural trusses when left visible, as in open timber roofs, often contain members not needed for construction, or are built with greater massiveness than is requisite, or are composed in unscientific wa…