minor axis


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

Origin of minor axis

1
First recorded in 1860–65

Words Nearby minor axis

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use minor axis in a sentence

  • Draw the line a b, the major axis, and at a right angle to it the line c d, the minor axis of the figure.

  • Its form is that of an ellipsoid, with a major axis 26 millimetres in length, while the minor axis measures 11 millimetres.

    More Hunting Wasps | J. Henri Fabre
  • The marks D D, therefore, indicate the distance across the minor axis in Fig. 113.

  • Two small apiculi are inserted at about one-fifth the radius from the border near the ends of the minor axis.

  • The arches which stood at the extremities of the minor axis were the approaches to the imperial pavilions.

    Old Rome | Robert Burn

British Dictionary definitions for minor axis

minor axis

noun
  1. 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