Crossword clues for abscissa
abscissa
The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. (context geometry English) The first of the two terms by which a point is referred to, in a system of fixed rectilinear coordinate (Cartesian coordinate) axes. The abscissa is also known as the "x" coordinate of a point, shown on the horizontal line, with the ordinate, also known as the "y" coordinate, shown on the vertical line. (First attested in the late 17th century.)
WordNet
n. the value of a coordinate on the horizontal axis
[also: abscissae (pl)]
Wikipedia
In mathematics, an abscissa (; plural abscissae or abscissæ or abscissas) is the number whose absolute value (modulus) is the perpendicular distance of a point from the vertical axis. Usually this is the horizontal coordinate of a point in a two-dimensional rectangular Cartesian coordinate system. The term can also refer to the horizontal axis (typically x-axis) of a two-dimensional graph (because that axis is used to define and measure the horizontal coordinates of points in the space). An ordered pair consists of two terms—the abscissa (horizontal, 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 "abscissa".
The curve as a whole becomes, first slightly convex to the abscissa, then straight and ascending, and lastly concave.
In this cause-and-effect curve, the first part is slightly convex to the abscissa, the second straight and ascending, and the third concave.
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.
The raw rock mountains shadowed in the late sun and to the east the shimmering abscissa of the desert plains under a sky where raincurtains hung dark as soot all along the quadrant.
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 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.