Abscissas

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Abscissa \Ab*scis"sa\, n.; E. pl. {Abscissas}, L. pl.
     {Absciss[ae]}. [L., fem. of abscissus, p. p. of absindere to
     cut of. See {Abscind}.] (Geom.)
     One of the elements of reference by which a point, as of a
     curve, is referred to a system of fixed rectilineal
     co["o]rdinate axes.


  
     Note: When referred to two intersecting axes, one of them
           called the axis of abscissas, or of X, and the other
           the axis of ordinates, or of Y, the abscissa of the
           point is the distance cut off from the axis of X by a
           line drawn through it and parallel to the axis of Y.
           When a point in space is referred to three axes having
           a common intersection, the abscissa may be the distance
           measured parallel to either of them, from the point to
           the plane of the other two axes. Abscissas and
           ordinates taken together are called co["o]rdinates. --
           OX or PY is the abscissa of the point P of the curve,
           OY or PX its ordinate, the intersecting lines OX and OY
           being the axes of abscissas and ordinates respectively,
           and the point O their origin.
           [1913 Webster]