y-axis

[wahy-ak-sis]

noun

Mathematics.

plural

y-axes 

1. Also called axis of ordinates. (in a plane Cartesian coordinate system) the axis, usually vertical, along which the ordinate is measured and from which the abscissa is measured.

2. (in a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system) the axis along which values of y are measured and at which both x and z equal zero.

y-axis

noun

1. a reference axis, usually vertical, of a graph or two- or three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system along which the y- coordinate is measured

y-axis

1. The vertical axis of a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system.

2. One of the three axes of a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system.

Word History and Origins

Origin of y-axis¹

First recorded in 1925–30