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

Example Sentences

Both plots were sourced from the same dataset and should thus be identical—but the plot in one paper has a y-axis with a scale that is about 7,000 times larger than the other.

Read more on Scientific American

The vertical y-axis is the bedroom door, on one side noise, density, debate, ideas; on the other, quiet, space, solitude, privacy.

Read more on New York Times

The increase last month has no recent comparison and was so large that it did not fit on the y-axis of the CBP chart that tracks changes in monthly enforcement data.

Read more on Washington Post

The x-axis is effort; the y-axis is results.

Read more on Seattle Times

On the y-axis, I wrote “Seattle” at the top and “virtual” on the bottom.

Read more on Seattle Times