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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ordinate

Ordinate \Or"di*nate\, n. (Geom.) The distance of any point in a curve or a straight line, measured on a line called the axis of ordinates or on a line parallel to it, from another line called the axis of abscissas, on which the corresponding abscissa of the point is measured.

Note: The ordinate and abscissa, taken together, are called co["o]rdinates, and define the position of the point with reference to the two axes named, the intersection of which is called the origin of co["o]rdinates. In a typical two-dimensional plot, viewed on a plane graph in its normal orientation with perpendicular axes, the ordinate is the vertical axis; when the axes are labeled as x and y, it is the y-axis. See Coordinate.

Ordinate

Ordinate \Or"di*nate\, v. t. To appoint, to regulate; to harmonize.
--Bp. Hall.

Ordinate

Ordinate \Or"di*nate\, a. [L. ordinatus, p. p. of ordinare. See Ordain.] Well-ordered; orderly; regular; methodical. ``A life blissful and ordinate.''
--Chaucer.

Ordinate figure (Math.), a figure whose sides and angles are equal; a regular figure.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
ordinate

late 14c., from Latin ordinatus, past participle of ordinare "arrange, set in order" (see ordain). Related: Ordinately.

ordinate

1560s, from Latin ordinatus, past participle of ordinare "arrange, set in order" (see ordain). Related: Ordinated; ordinating.

Wiktionary
ordinate
  1. arranged regularly in rows; orderly; dispose or arranged in an orderly or regular fashion. n. (context mathematics English) the value of a coordinate on the vertical (Y) axis v

  2. 1 (context transitive English) to ordain a priest, or consecrate a bishop 2 (context transitive English) to align a series of objects

WordNet
ordinate
  1. n. the value of a coordinate on the vertical axis

  2. v. appoint to a clerical posts; "he was ordained in the Church" [syn: ordain, consecrate, order]

  3. bring (components or parts) into proper or desirable coordination correlation; "align the wheels of my car"; "ordinate similar parts" [syn: align, coordinate]

Wikipedia
Ordinate

In mathematics, ordinate most often refers to that element of an ordered pair which is plotted on the vertical axis of a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, as opposed to the abscissa. The term can also refer to the vertical axis (typically y-axis) of a two-dimensional graph (because that axis is used to define and measure the vertical coordinates of points in the space). An ordered pair consists of two terms—the abscissa (horizontally, usually x) and the ordinate (vertical, usually y)—which define the location of a point in two-dimensional rectangular space.


$$(\overbrace{x}^\text{abscissa}, \overbrace{y}^\text{ordinate})$$

Usage examples of "ordinate".

Kyros disappeared from the great screen and was replaced by a grid on which each radiational component of the strange shell of energy was plotted on the ordinate against the abscissa of time.

She paced restlessly while he worked at making a graph with time as the abscissa and the code numbers for ordinates.

Such a line has for abscissa the distance of a load from one end of a girder, and for ordinate the bending moment or shear at any given section, or on any member, due to that load.

By the end of the day, the sand is crisscrossed with a mesh of ordinates, abscissas, curves to account for everything in nature.

I found that with each mixture there was a time of exposure which would produce the deepest blue, that with over-exposure the blue gradually turned gray, and that if a curve should be plotted, the abscissas of which should represent the time of exposure, and the ordinates of which should represent the intensity of the blue the curves drawn would have approximately an elliptical form, so that if one knew the exact time of exposure which would give the best result with any mixture, one might deviate two or three minutes either way from that time without producing a noticeable result.

I simply gave its co ordinates to my platoon sergeant and told him to have somebody check it.

I got down my old text for analytical geometry, from Thebes High School, measured some ordinates, abscissas, and slopes - plugged in the figures and wrote down the equation.

Waterhouse slashes an abscissa and an ordinate onto the board, then sweeps out a bell-shaped curve.