y-axis

[ wahy-ak-sis ]
/ ˈwaɪˌæk sɪs /

noun, plural y-ax·es [wahy-ak-seez] /ˈwaɪˌæk siz/. Mathematics.

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.
(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.

QUIZZES

HEED THE VOX POPULI, AND TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
a granular metamorphic rock.
a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.
a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of y-axis

First recorded in 1925–30

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH y-axis

x-axis y-axis

Words nearby y-axis

y chromosome, y connection, y'all, y, y, y-, y-axis, y-chromosome, y-fronts, y-level, y-linked gene, y-shaped ligament
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

British Dictionary definitions for y-axis

y-axis

noun

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

Scientific definitions for y-axis

y-axis
[ wī′ăk′sĭs ]

The vertical axis of a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system.
One of the three axes of a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.