abscissa
noun /æbˈsɪsə/
/æbˈsɪsə/
(plural abscissae
(mathematics) /æbˈsɪsiː/
/æbˈsɪsiː/
, abscissas)- the coordinate that gives the distance along the horizontal axis (= the one along the bottom) compare ordinateWord Originearly 17th cent. (denoting the part of a line between a point on it and the point where it meets an ordinate): from modern Latin abscissa (linea) ‘cut-off (line)’, feminine past participle of abscindere, from ab- ‘off’ + scindere ‘to cut’.