polar axis

American  

noun

Mathematics.

1. the fixed line, usually horizontal, from which the angle made by the radius vector is measured in a polar coordinate system.

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polar axis British  

noun

1. the fixed line in a system of polar coordinates from which the polar angle, θ, is measured anticlockwise

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Etymology

Origin of polar axis

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

polar axis

It’s about the fact that the Lotus’s polar axis runs exactly through the driver’s inboard hip, so that the machine rotates around them and not some invisible pivot point, just off-center.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

The polar grid is scaled as the unit circle with the positive x-axis now viewed as the polar axis and the origin as the pole.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015

Perhaps the graph does cross the polar axis, but not at the pole.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 13, 2015

Deuterostomes undergo radial cleavage, where the cleavage axes are either parallel or perpendicular to the polar axis, resulting in the alignment of the cells between the two poles.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

If the polar axis is set vertical and the worm wheel unclamped, the instrument is transformed into an alt-azimuth mounting.

From Astronomical Instruments and Accessories by William Gaertner and Company