Cartesian coordinate

American  

noun

Mathematics.

1. Usually Cartesian coordinates a member of a system of coordinates for locating a point on a plane Cartesian plane by its distance from each of two intersecting lines, or in space by its distance from each of three planes intersecting at a point.

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Etymology

Origin of Cartesian coordinate

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

These systems have complicated modeling equations in the Cartesian coordinate system, which make them difficult to describe and analyze.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

Is it possible for a point plotted in the Cartesian coordinate system to not lie in one of the four quadrants?

From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015

While there is evidence that ideas similar to Descartes’ grid system existed centuries earlier, it was Descartes who introduced the components that comprise the Cartesian coordinate system, a grid system having perpendicular axes.

From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015

We have also examined notation for vectors drawn specifically in the Cartesian coordinate plane using For any of these vectors, we can calculate the magnitude.

From Textbooks • Feb. 13, 2015

In contrast to Pierre L’Enfant’s grandiose national capital, the street commissioners adopted what Reuben Skye Rose-Redwood, a geographer and expert on the grid, described as “a physical representation of the Cartesian coordinate system.”

From New York Times • Mar. 21, 2011