minor axis

American

noun

Mathematics.

the axis of an ellipse that is perpendicular to the major axis at a point equidistant from the foci.

minor axis British

noun

the shorter or shortest 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 minor axis

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The distance from the center to the endpoints of the minor axis is 2.

From Textbooks • May 6, 2020

The minor axis is vertical but the end points aren’t given.

From Textbooks • May 6, 2020

The transverse axis is also called the major axis, and the conjugate axis is also called the minor axis.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

An important metrical property of conjugate diameters is the sum of their squares equals the sum of the squares of the major and minor axis.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 3 "Electrostatics" to "Engis" by Various

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