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

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See Examples For:

minor axis

Find the endpoints of the minor axis Step 5.

From Textbooks ● May 6, 2020

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

From Textbooks ● May 6, 2020

A segment perpendicular to the major axis that passes through the center and intersects the ellipse in two points is called the minor axis.

From Textbooks ● May 6, 2020

What special case of the ellipse do we have when the major and minor axis are of the same length?

From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015

The narrow part of the ellipse is called the minor axis.

From Practical Mechanics for Boys by James Slough Zerbe

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