major axis

American

noun

Mathematics.

the axis of an ellipse that passes through the two foci.

major axis British

noun

the longer or longest axis of an ellipse or ellipsoid

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of major axis

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

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major axis

The distance 2a is called the major axis of the ellipse.

From Textbooks ● Oct. 13, 2016

The major axis of the orbit of a planet, such as Mercury, rotates in space slightly because of various perturbations.

From Textbooks ● Oct. 13, 2016

The widest diameter of the ellipse is called its major axis.

From Textbooks ● Oct. 13, 2016

Because the major axis is on the y-axis.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015

Eurasia’s east-west major axis, unlike the Americas’ north-south major axis, permitted diffusion without change in latitude and associated environmental variables.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023