y-axis
Americannoun
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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.
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(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.
noun
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The vertical axis of a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system.
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One of the three axes of a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of y-axis
First recorded in 1925–30
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Expressions and Equations
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Geometry - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Two lines or axes at right angles to each other are chosen, intersecting at a point called the origin; the horizontal axis is the axis of abscissae, the vertical one the axis of ordinates.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various
Join A to Q and B to P and draw a line through S parallel to the axis of ordinates.
From An Elementary Course in Synthetic Projective Geometry by Lehmer, Derrick Norman
We take now for the axis of abscissas the diameter PQ, and the conjugate diameter for the axis of ordinates.
From An Elementary Course in Synthetic Projective Geometry by Lehmer, Derrick Norman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
