incidence

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: in=ci=dence

CIDE DICTIONARY

incidence, n. [Cf. F. incidence.].

•  A falling on or upon; an incident; an event; an occurrence.  Bp. Hall.  [1913 Webster]
•  The direction in which a body, or a ray of light or heat, falls on any surface.  [1913 Webster]

  "In equal incidences there is a considerable inequality of refractions."  [1913 Webster]
•  The rate or ratio at which something occurs; as, the incidence of murder in Los Angeles; the incidence of cancer in men over 50.  [PJC]

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.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

incidence, 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.

Idiom

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)

THESAURUS

incidence

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

ROGET THESAURUS

incidence

Direction

N direction, management, managery, government, gubernation, conduct, legislation, regulation, guidance, bossism, legislature, steerage, pilotage, reins, reins of government, helm, rudder, needle, compass, guiding star, load star, lode star, pole star, cynosure, supervision, superintendence, surveillance, oversight, eye of the master, control, charge, board of control, command, premiership, senatorship, director, chair, portfolio, statesmanship, statecraft, kingcraft, queencraft, ministry, ministration, administration, stewardship, proctorship, agency, director, directing, hegemonic, at the helm, at the head of, direction, bearing, course, vector, set, drift, tenor, tendency, incidence, bending, trending, dip, tack, aim, collimation, steering steerage, point of the compass, cardinal points, North East, South, West, N by E, ENE, NE by N, NE, rhumb, azimuth, line of collimation, line, path, road, range, quarter, line of march, alignment, allignment, air line, beeline, straight shoot, directed, directed towards, pointing towards, bound for, aligned, with alligned with, direct, straight, undeviating, unswerving, straightforward, North, Northern, Northerly, towards, on the road, on the high road to, en avant, versus, to, hither, thither, whither, directly, straight as an arrow, forwards as an arrow, point blank, in a bee line to, in a direct line to, as the crow flies, in a straight line to, in a bee line for, in a direct line for, in a straight line for, in a bee line with, in a direct line with, in a straight line with, in a line with, full tilt at, as the crow flies, before the wind, near the wind, close to the wind, against the wind, windwards, in the wind's eye, through, via, by way of, in all directions, in all manner of ways, quaquaversum, from the four winds, the shortest distance between two points is a stra.